The chef of a German Michelin star restaurant posted a reopening announcement on his personal Facebook and declared "No Chinese Wanted" in his post.
Jean-Claude Bourgueil is a well-known chef at the French eatery 'Im Schiffchen' in Düsseldorf. He made an announcement on Facebook regarding the reopening of the restaurant after shuttering for months due to COVID-19 pandemic, but the post was seemed to be controversial in racist issues as he mentioned "No Chinese Wanted" to enter his restaurant.
According to the New York Post, the 73-year-old chef wrote on May 12 (Tuesday),
“We start on Friday, but only with our bistro. No Chinese wanted!!!” according to dw.com.
According to Sinchew, the official Michelin Guide issued a statement on Friday night, strongly condemning the chef for being discriminate, and immediately removed 'Im Schiffchen' from its restaurants' selection.
“Im Schiffchen should be ashamed,” one critic fumed. “What Jean Claude Bourgueil said is just sickening. A wimp and liar.”
The chef realized the controversial issue about his post and deleted the post. According to the New York Post, he apologized calling it a “thoughtless statement” that he “formulated completely wrong.” He claimed the remark was not in reference to Chinese people, but rather the “dictators” and “strongmen” in the country.
“I am a child of the French revolution and detest all dictators in this world. Dictators that oppress their citizens and punish people with death,” he posted in a statement, according to the paper.
“People of nine different nationalities work at our restaurant. My wife is Asian and I myself am a foreigner in this land,” it continued. “Rest assured, I can be accused of many things, but certainly not racism and I do not tolerate it.”
Although the post was taken down immediately, netizen had screenshot the post and spread it around.
Due to the COVID-19 which is believed to have spread from Wuhan, China, a lot of Asians have faced racial and discrimination issues in foreign countries.
Cover Photo: New York Post | Jean Claude Bourgueil Facebook
