The sign outside Wafu, telling diners what's expected of them.
Photo: Stephanie Gardiner
It's not just financial reasons behind the latest Sydney
restaurant closure, but "inconsiderate, greedy" diners, "intolerable"
customers and "fast-food junkies".
News that Surry Hills restaurant Wafu is soon closing its
doors swept the city's food scene yesterday, after chef Yukako Ichikawa
gave a scathing review of some of Sydney's wasteful diners.
Angry outburst ... Yukako Ichikawa is closing her Surry Hills restaurant, Wafu.
Photo: Marco Del Grande
Ichikawa's restaurant has a notorious set of rules to cut
food waste, with customers expected to eat everything on their plate
and bring their own containers for leftovers and takeaway orders.
The Japanese eatery is often described as Sydney's most
exclusive restaurant because only members, which include those who
attend an "orientation", can make bookings.
But
in an announcement posted online, Ichikawa said Wafu would close in the coming months partly because not enough diners were willing to abide by her policies.
"First, many potential customers, and even some members,
have entered Wafu without doggie containers," she wrote on the Wafu
website.
"I could not accept such inconsiderate people. The
refusal of this most simple, basic request shows that Wafu's ways are
not respected. Intolerable.
"Further, I found it distressing when, after eating, with obvious self-satisfaction, people said, 'SO FULL!'.
"Perhaps this was meant as a compliment, but to me it
meant that the utterer had deliberately damaged their body by wasting
food through over-eating.
"It meant also that the utterer did not understand Wafu's
ways, and had not bothered to make the effort or take time to find out
what these are.
"Wafu is viable, as a business, if I continue to accept inconsiderate, greedy people.
"But I couldn't do it. Wafu has always been, and will remain, more to me than simply just another business."
Ichikawa also wrote that the "ongoing global economic
crises" played a part in her decision, as well as "the disheartening
effect of seeing people walking whilst cramming fast-food in jaws that
cannot even chew".
The chef said Wafu's doors would remain open to members,
or anyone willing to bring their own containers, while the restaurant is
up for sale.
She said Wafu would be "re-structured" and a new, smaller Wafu may be set up at some point.
Ichikawa, dubbed
"iron chef" by the Herald in 2010, made the strict policies that year after nearly shutting shop because wasteful eaters made her "sick of people".
She also granted a 30 per cent discount to customers who
ate all the food they ordered, with the exception of garnishes like
lemon slices, sushi ginger and wasabi.
Wafu is the latest Sydney eatery
to announce its closure, with many notable restaurants closing or going into administration.
The Berowra Waters Inn, Ad Lib, Bilson's, Cotton Duck,
Montpellier Public House, Bird Cow Fish, and Tabou have all closed,
while chef Justin North restaurant group, including Becasse, under
voluntary administration.
Yukako Ichikawa ... wants to come into your kitchen. Photo: Ben Rushton
Membership policy ... Yukako Ichikawa's Wafu is closing down. Photo: Ben Rushton