A restaurant in Kyiv was accused of broadcasting Russian songs: what guests and the establishment say

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In Kyiv, the restaurant of modern Ukrainian cuisine “Fat Duck” was criticized because of the Russian song that was played at the banquet. The incident happened on January 29 – after visiting the restaurant, public figure Daniil Lubkin complained about the Russian song. He also wrote that at first the manager of the establishment spoke in Russian, and then switched to Ukrainian. At the same time, the establishment assured that guests are always served in Ukrainian, and the sound of the song is a coincidence. Ihor Bragin, the president of the Association of Chefs of Ukraine and the owner of the restaurant, said that a Russian song was unexpectedly sung by one of the guests of the birthday girl. The DJ was then made a remark, because they do not perform Russian songs in the institution. “Ukrainian Pravda. Life” spoke with the client, the owner and the administration of the establishment to understand the incident. Illustrative photo: Nomadsoul1 What happened: customers’ version In the “Fat Duck” restaurant, the song “Happy Birthday, Vika” by the Russian group “Roots” was played during the birthday celebration at a private banquet. Other guests of the establishment heard Russian music and expressed their indignation on social networks: “We came to have dinner at the establishment, we were met by a Russian-speaking manager. When we addressed him in Ukrainian, he began to address us in Ukrainian. It is worth disturbing (this is important in the context of further history) what he had in his ear a special earpiece through which he communicated with other waiters. So all communication was only in Russian…” – wrote Daniil Lubkin. “After they heard “Happy birthday to the century” on the way out of the institution, which echoed throughout the institution and far beyond, they asked the administrator what was wrong??!”. – also wrote Elizaveta Datsenko, who visited the institution together with Daniil. The girl says that she was told: “This is a private event, we cannot ban songs performed by guests.” The guests called the police. The police did not find any violations and left. After the incident, the communicators of “Fat Duck” apologized to Elizaveta on Instagram and promised to respond. “I got the most interesting answer from the management of the institution. Judging by their answer, the management simply did not agree with the employees that they have different values,” Elizaveta commented. In the comment UP. Life Daniil Lubkin also said: “The manager greeted us in Russian at the entrance. Then they switched to Ukrainian, but they communicated in Russian among themselves. The biggest problem was the performance of this beautiful track.” The man believes that the institution should stop playing Russian songs. “This is a violation of the law. The author of the song supported armed aggression against Ukraine. The worst thing is that this music was heard throughout the institution, no one made it quieter,” adds the visitor. Daniil said that his appeal was transferred to the 4th police department of the Shevchenkiv district. Police officers are investigating and promise to contact him. The man also plans to contact the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language. At the same time, language ombudsman Taras Kremin said that he has not yet received any complaints about the institution and he has not yet decided how to react. “There were no complaints. We are making a decision on how to respond,” replied the Commissioner of “UP. Life”. What they say in the establishment Manager Pavlo assures that he met a company of four visitors and communicated in Ukrainian. “The guests had dinner. There was a small incident with one dish – we solved it. I presented them with dessert at the expense of the establishment, gift certificates, they were satisfied. When they left, we were having a birthday party in a closed hall. And it so happened that one one of the guests congratulated the birthday girl with a Russian song. No one was warned that this would happen. Unfortunately, I was not able to take the microphone away from her.” The manager says he apologized to Daniel and his friends and explained that this is a private event and this is not a restaurant broadcasting music. “In this little chaos, they could have left dissatisfied, but I apologized to them and said that we are not the ones playing the music. I cannot forbid the visitors to speak Russian.” According to him, the guests also did not complain to him about the loudness from the neighboring hall: “There was no such comment to me. When the guests entered the establishment, the event was already taking place, they heard music playing. The hall was closed, but sound is sound. Remarks because of the loud music in the other hall, they didn’t do anything to me,” says the manager. Photo: tovstakachka.restaurant In a comment to “UP. Life”, the owner of the establishment Ihor Bragin confirmed the words of the manager. According to him, that day they had reserved a banquet hall where they celebrated the birthday of Victoria’s girlfriend. “As I was told, the girl on this birthday approached the DJ, gave him a flash drive and wanted to wish her birthday friend a happy birthday. And she sang “Happy birthday, Vika” in Russian. The private banquet was closed by a partition. The guests started filming people and the girl who sang.” Igor Bragin says that the DJ knew that there should be no Russian songs in the establishment and was surprised when the guest started singing. The administrator made a remark to the DJ. After a call from angry patrons, the police came to the restaurant. “We showed everything, they completely photographed the DJ’s playlist. There really were no Russian songs. It was only one song – the guest sang a greeting. Yes, it’s a shame. I wouldn’t want Russian music to be played in our establishment. It was such a case , that the guest greeted her girlfriend. We reacted as best we could. The law enforcement officers checked, said that there is no Russian music here, and left,” Igor Bragin said. “Broadcasting music is considered a violation of the law. It was not a song, but a backing track to which the girl herself sang. The police asked: was it a song or a person singing – I gave them an explanation, they said “everything is fine” and left,” he also commented Manager Pavlo. According to the owner, after the incident, the restaurant’s administrators responded to dissatisfied guests in messengers. The next day, he went to the restaurant and talked to the employees personally. “I asked the manager Pasha – did you communicate in Russian? He says that nothing happened. They meet people, take them to the restaurant in Ukrainian. Now we are sorting it out – I just arrived. Decisions will be made, but I need to determine what needs to be done . I understand everything, I would also be outraged by this. But I will report how it happened,” said Ihor Bragin. According to him, there is usually no live music in “Fat Duck”, and there are no Russian songs in the playlists. “Only if it’s a private event, we can call someone. And then we’ve only been working for a month and a half, we opened in test mode, we don’t have the system set up yet,” says Igor. The owner of the restaurant also assures that customers are not served in Russian, because the establishment’s policy is to “promote Ukrainian cuisine and Ukrainian entrepreneurship.” Ihor calls the whole situation “an embarrassment.” “DJ is a volunteer himself, he helps our divisions in Bakhmut a lot. This situation is getting inflated – I really hate to see how the posts go and everyone writes “yo, Russian, lovers of the Russian world” and so on. We are trying to do something, we are building new establishments Ukrainian cuisine, we do volunteer work, we feed people from Irpen, we collect money to support the soldiers. And here they put a cross – that we are Muscovites and traitors… It’s very sad to read this,” adds Ihor. What will be the changes? “First of all, this will definitely not happen again. We don’t have a single song in Russian in our playlists. In order for one of the guests to sing, some papers will already be signed, which will be drawn up by a lawyer,” answers Igor Bragin. The owner of “Fat Duck” promised to conduct an investigation and find out how everything happened: “We are finding out why it was not stopped. I will not cover for anyone.” “I can guarantee you that if in the future guests will order or say that they will have their own musical accompaniment, then we will definitely warn them that there will be no karaoke/singing of Russian songs or any Ani Lorak. I can tell you to promise,” added manager Pavlo. How should businesses act in similar situations? The scandal surrounding the restaurant is one of the examples of the “cancel culture”, when the consumer publicly reacts to the fact that he is not satisfied with the services. How should businesses act in such cases? “UP. Life” talked about it with Victoria Chernova – Chief Growth Officer of the Newsfront Communications communications agency. “The story is quite multifaceted. From the reaction of the manager and the owner, we can see: they explain what happened, why it happened and what they will do to prevent it from happening again. From the point of view of communications, this is the right way,” Victoria comments. Chernova The communicator says that, in general, the ideas that “the customer is always right” or “this is a private party in which we have no right to interfere” do not work now, because public catering establishments are valued not only for service and dishes, but also for values, readiness be open and honest about problems and changes. The moment of broadcasting values ​​is extremely important for business, Victoria Chernova emphasizes. “I can assume that this is a coincidence that happened due to the fact that the restaurant is in test mode. They did not have time to complete everything. Such a situation may not happen again in the future, and they made the necessary conclusions and will be able to provide that level the service that visitors expect – in particular, service in the Ukrainian language and the fact that the institution will not broadcast Russian music in any format,” the expert adds. Do we need a “cancellation culture”? Cancel culture is a pressure to change, explains Victoria Chernova. In her opinion, the culture of “repeal” is needed where it is justified and it is necessary to protect Ukrainian culture and language, to highlight sensitive issues. “But cancel culture has a peculiarity – it should lead to qualitative changes. Negativity in social networks from the point of view of communications is a dangerous thing. You really need to understand: if the problem is systemic and it does not change after many comments on social networks or direct appeals, then there is it makes sense to choose whether to buy certain products or refuse certain things,” says the communicator. Whether it is possible to “forgive” after an incident – each visitor chooses independently. “If there is an opportunity to solve the problem, it is not a deliberate system error and it is more related to inexperience or a coincidence of circumstances – then a person also makes a decision on his own. We must understand that visitors choose establishments based on the coincidence of values,” explains the specialist. According to the expert, if there is an incident, the institution’s openness and willingness to talk about their problems is highly appreciated. “An official statement and communication about how the problem was solved is mandatory. If one of the colleagues in the restaurant is not used to communicating much in Ukrainian, maybe they need some courses, additional lessons in Ukrainian. It is worth openly saying, for example, that guests cannot turn on their music – this format is no longer available and this is our official position,” adds the communications expert. Read also: “They will find everything about you.” Maryna Starodubska on cancel culture, the institution of reputation in Ukraine and the mentality of Ukrainians

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