Michelin-starred chef apologises over ‘racist’ photo showing slit-eyed gesture

‘Staggering and gross and sadly, unsurprising,’ says Toronto restaurateur Jen Agg

(Getty Images)

Award-winning Italian chef Gianluca Gorini has apologised after being accused of using “racist tropes” in an Instagram photo of himself and other chefs doing slit-eyed gestures on Tuesday.

Gorini, who was recently awarded a Michelin star for his restaurant in Bagno di Romagna, is considered to be one of Italy’s rising young stars, according to Food and Wine gazette.

But Toronto restaurateur and bestselling author, Jen Agg, criticised Gorini on Twitter for the image on his Instagram, which was subsequently deleted.

In the photo, which features six chefs and a child, the group are all wearing traditional Asian conical hats and five of them are pulling their eyes into a ‘slant’ position.

The image was reportedly posted during the ‘Gelinaz shuffle’ event, which, according to their website, sees restaurateurs around the world participate in a “recipe swap”.

The website reads: “Chefs stay at home and swap their recipes for one day: 38 countries, 138 restaurants, 148 chefs across 17 time zones," and describing it as the “most massive dinner on Earth”.

Gorini’s restaurant was reportedly meant to be cooking recipes from Lee Ho Fook, a Chinese restaurant in Australia.

Agg said on Twitter: “Yes I understand the concept of the ‘shuffle’. They do worldwide *remixes* and in this case daGorini is interpreting the food of Lee Ho Fook in Melbourne.

“That def doesn’t mean ‘hey you should probably crack into the most racist tropes possible for authenticity’.

“It’s got way more likes than comments at the moment which is....staggering and gross and sadly, unsurprising. Truly f***ed.”

Commenters agreed with Ag, one writing: “Gross on so many levels, and that a child is participating is beyond all words. I hope there are serious repercussions.

Another said: “Thank you for calling this out. Exactly as you said: it’s ridiculous and very not surprising.”

After the social media backlash Gorini replaced the photo with another on his Instagram, saying: “I never thought that a photo could generate all this.

“The shot in question was dictated by the excitement and enthusiasm that the confrontation with a new culture has generated in our daily work.

“Now I realise that I probably don’t know the subject of the question well enough and that I have underestimated its meaning.”