'no shame' Dublin chef slams 'influencer' who asked for free dinner at upcoming charity event

Top Dublin chef Grainne O'Keefe has slammed an influencer for asking for a free dinner at an upcoming charity event.

O’Keefe is set to host a special dinner at Mae Restaurant in Ballsbridge, along with chef Danni Barry, on International Women's day, March 8th.

The set menu with matched wines costs €150 per person, with the proceeds going towards building an online directory of female food producers in Ireland.

Sharing the message in part, Grainne expressed her anger at the email sent in by an influencer with more than 90,000 followers.

“I was just wondering if you might be up for gifting me a dinner for two in your wonderful restaurant in exchange for some lovely media coverage?,” the request read.

"March 8 would be awesome if possible."

Sharing the screenshot, the chef said: “‘Can I please have free stuff from you on International Women’s Day even though the proceeds (that I won’t contribute to) are going towards a directory supporting women in the industry (that I don’t care about)...'

"NO. Also, this is a verified account with 90k+ followers."

Dublin restaurant Dax also responded, revealing that they too had the same request.

“Not sure how they will eat in Mae and then Dax on the same night! Some people have no shame. Verified and also not a food pic on their grid!”

Sharing her response to the “influencer,” Grainne wrote: “Great to see that you would like to dine with us (and many other Dublin restaurants that you sent the same message to).

“International Women’s Day dinner in Mae is to celebrate women in the food industry and we won’t be gifting tables for it.

“If we are, it will be to women who have had a positive impact in the restaurant industry in Ireland.

“Also, as you don’t seem to have any Irish food following, I don’t see how your ‘lovely coverage’ would benefit the restaurant.

“We are looking for a kitchen porter to come and join our team, so should you want to pay for your meal, I’ll pay you for a trial (I don’t believe in free labour).”

Bastible in Leonard’s Corner responded to Grainne and said that the influencer also got in touch with them: “She copied and pasted the same message to us!! How will she fit it all in?,” they said.