Top Paris restaurant investigated over 'anti-Arab discrimination'
Top Paris restaurant investigated over 'anti-Arab discrimination'
A Parisian restaurant known for its five-star clientele is being investigated after a newspaper article interviewed staff saying management run anti-Arab discriminatory policy on reservations.
2 min read
Paris is a popular destination from Gulf Arab travelers [Getty]
French authorities are investigating a top Parisian restaurant after a former staff claimed that the management runs an anti-Arab reservations policy.
The Buzzfeed article said that the the restaurant
L'Avenue - favoured by celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Rihanna - regularly declines reservations from Arab, African or veil-wearing customers.
Diners with Arabic-sounding names were turned down when they sought reservations with management putting "in place a veritable system of discrimination", Thursday's article claimed.
Tourists from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain were told that the restaurant was fully booked when they tried to book a table.
The Buzzfeed investigation was based on the testimony from four former waitresses and claimed that management still runs a policy that regularly discriminated against Arab and Black diners.
"If a veiled woman showed up to the restaurant, they had to be told that the restaurant was full, even if it was not," the report said.
Buzzfeed printed screenshots of text messages between staff that backed the claims.
A photograph showing a list of telephone country codes from four Gulf countries, which was also allegedly placed at the front desk so staff knew which country the caller was from.
French rights chief Jacques Toubon, announcing an investigation, saying that L'Avenue was being investigated for "discrimination in terms of physical appearance".
The former serving staff told Buzzfeed they were ordered to sit the "good-looking and presentable" customers on the ground floor and terrace where they would be the most visible.
The restaurant was unreachable for comment on Friday afternoon.
L'Avenue Manager Alexandre Denis denied the allegations in comments to Buzzfeed.
"All cultures, all nationalities come here... What is certain is that I never gave instructions to refuse customers."
L'Avenue announced in 2015 that it was set to open a New York branch in mid-2018 in partnership with department store Saks Fifth Avenue.
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