Shocking restaurant scandal exposed.
A San Francisco chef has been fired after allegedly humiliating a TikTok influencer.
The failed collaboration explained.
Karla, known online as @itskarlabb, was invited to Kis Cafe for a promotional video in exchange for a free meal.
The cafe, a new Bay Area wine bar, hoped a social media spotlight might draw early crowds.
Karla and her husband showed up early to film—standard practice for influencers building branded content.
But within minutes, Karla said things took a mortifying turn.
She overheard a man—later identified as co-owner and chef Luke Sung—loudly question why someone with her “small” following was even invited.
“He was saying I had too little followers,” Karla recalled in her tearful TikTok video.
At the time of filming, Karla had around 15,000 followers. (She now boasts 382,000+ and counting.)
Sung allegedly pulled up her profile on the spot, playing her videos aloud and critiquing her content.
“He says to me that he doesn’t think my videos are at the level which he wants his restaurant represented,” she said.
Sung reportedly questioned her audience’s financial ability to dine there and asked, “Do you know who I am?”
The chef allegedly flexed his resume, name-dropping his two-time James Beard Award finalist status mid-rant.
He also brought up his daughter—popular NYC TikToker Isa Sung, who has more than 600K followers.
Karla said she tried to walk away from the encounter, but was stopped again—this time, Sung said he was offended that she hadn’t introduced herself properly.
“At this point, I’m crying,” Karla said in the now-viral clip. “I told him I was no longer interested in doing the collab.”
Chef and restaurant identified.
Karla didn’t name the restaurant or the chef in her original post—but the internet didn’t need long.
Online sleuths matched visuals, menus, and context clues, quickly identifying Kis Cafe and Luke Sung.
Luke Sung isn’t some no-name cook—he’s long been a respected name in the Bay Area food scene.
Kis Cafe marked a more casual, wine-bar spin on his culinary style—with plates designed for sharing and vibes built for social media.
Review bombs rolled in on Yelp. Comment sections exploded. TikTok duets and stitches multiplied by the hour.
In an unexpected twist, Sung’s own daughter Isa sided publicly with Karla.
Isa released a video condemning her father’s behavior and supporting the influencer community.
“No one deserves to be treated like this,” she wrote. “Especially someone showing up to do free work.”
The fallout unveiled.
The backlash reached critical mass—Kis Cafe shuttered temporarily to “restructure.”
The restaurant then issued a statement confirming: “He is no longer part of the team as a co-owner, a chef, or in any other way.”
“That behavior does not reflect the remainder of our team,” the statement added. “We want to create a space that’s welcoming and respectful to everyone.”
The unnamed co-owner later told NBC Bay Area the cafe would relaunch without Sung, prioritizing staff livelihoods.
But the venue also pleaded with the public to stop using the incident as a springboard for hate or racism.
Chef apologizes — but the internet’s not buying it.
A two-time James Beard Award finalist, Sung had serious clout among local chefs and critics.
Sung has since issued a public apology, calling his behavior “condescending, hurtful, and intimidating,” and announcing he’s stepping away from Kis Cafe “permanently.”
His daughter Isa’s influencer status made it almost inevitable that the restaurant would dip into online marketing.
Which makes the entire episode—mocking a fellow TikToker invited for promo—so much more bizarre.