The very chic Manko restaurant is in turmoil.
The Moma Group establishment, located on avenue Montaigne in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, apologized on Instagram and Facebook on Wednesday after being accused of racism following an incident on Saturday with clients.
“Following the incident that occurred on Saturday evening in Paris, the Manko apologizes.
Manko respects a charter of values that promote equality, respect, tolerance and benevolence for all.
The necessary sanctions were immediately and permanently taken, ”wrote the management on social networks.
At the origin of the controversy: an altercation between the security guard of this trendy restaurant serving cocktails and Peruvian dishes and three Montreal customers passing through Paris.
In a video posted on the social network Tik Tok by one of them, we see them chatting with the security guard at the entrance to the restaurant.
The latter refuses them access because of their outfits which, according to him, are "not evening".
The three young women, however, seem dressed for the occasion and are wearing heels.
One of them even specifies that she has reserved a table.
@tiguiidiallo
My first experience of Racism at the restaurant Manko in Paris.
Am just gonna let this here and go on with my life.
♬ original sound - tiguidiallo
According to them, the security guard prevented them from entering because of their skin color.
In the video, we can also see other people, white, who manage to enter the establishment without any problem whatever their dress, while another couple, black, is refused access for the same reasons as the three Canadian friends.
“It exists for real…”, exclaims one of them in the video and adds “this is my first experience of racism”.
"He (the security guard, editor's note) has a bad reason for refusing access to each of the black people", can we also hear.
Not a first in Paris
Since this incident, the restaurant has faced a wave of negative reviews on Google and has even been forced to have the reviews published in the last 24 hours deleted, according to BFMTV.
This is not the first time that an upscale restaurant has been targeted by accusations of racism.
In February 2020, in a video viewed more than a million times, a young woman claimed to have been turned away from Le Matignon restaurant located near the Champs-Élysées, because one of her friends was veiled.
A similar controversy also erupted in June 2021 after an incident at the entrance to the barge La Pause Parisienne, quai Anatole-France (7th arrondissement).