Chef Ahn Sung-jae. [Newsis]
Chef Ahn Sung-jae. [Newsis]

The fallout from a wine-substitution scandal at Mosu Seoul, the restaurant run by chef Ahn Sung-jae, continues to grow.

Michelin's headquarters in France has launched a formal investigation into the wine-switching allegations at Mosu Seoul, according to the Chosun Ilbo on Saturday.

"We take all feedback and concerns raised by our customers very seriously," Michelin said, adding that its quality-review team is actively looking into the matter.

The controversy began when a diner identified only as A posted an account of a visit to Mosu Seoul in April, alleging that the restaurant had substituted a cheaper wine — 100,000 won ($65) less expensive — for the wine pairing set they had ordered.

After the restaurant issued an initial response, Ahn stepped forward to apologize personally. "Everything that happened at Mosu is entirely my responsibility," he said, adding that he had required the sommelier involved to submit a written explanation and removed that person from any customer-facing sommelier role going forward.

Public reaction to Ahn's second apology, however, remained negative. Within an hour of posting the apology, he uploaded a new video to his YouTube channel, a move that drew sharp criticism.

The production team behind the YouTube channel "Chef Ahn Sung-jae" ultimately announced through a community post that the channel would go on hiatus, saying it needed time "to reconsider the channel's direction, overall operations and the careful production of content."


choigo@heraldcorp.com