After drawing intense backlash following the promotion of his new London restaurant, Lucky Cat, Gordon Ramsay clearly still hasn’t learned his lesson seeing as he’s landed himself in yet another controversy just weeks later.
Ramsay’s restaurant is going viral for all the wrong reasons once again after a tweet picturing their “White Geisha” cocktail began circulating on Twitter. According to the Lucky Cat website, the cocktail is, “a heady mixture of Vodka, sake syrup, yuzu and egg white with a portrait of a Geisha on top.”
Needless to say, Twitter users were not pleased with this portrayal of the exoticized Asian female. One user even labeled the drink as the, “literal consumption of exoticized/objectified/sexualized idealization of Asian women.”
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Ramsay’s restaurant, which is led by Caucasian executive chef Ben Orpwood, has described itself to be an “authentic Asian eating house and vibrant late-night lounge, inspired by the drinking dens of 1930s Tokyo and the Far East.” The establishment has been drawing criticism over accusations of cultural appropriation and general lack of respect for Asian cultures even before they have officially opened their doors.
The restaurant and their staff members, as well as Ramsay’s behavior, have been heavily criticized by critics and netizens alike. With one food critic describing their pop up event as a, “real life Ramsay kitchen nightmare.”
Lucky Cat is set to open their doors to the public in the summer of 2019.
