A New York City man who accused staff at an upscale Manhattan steakhouse of eating half of his friend’s birthday cake has apologized after learning the truth, but his followers are still not convinced.
Influencer and chef Ryan Nordheimer shared with his followers a beautiful 15-layer ‘ultimate-funfetti’ cake he made for his friend’s birthday.
Nordheimer documented the process of making the cake, which required five or six arduous hours and estimated it was worth “hundreds” of dollars.
“It was a huge cake, at least twice the size of my head,” he said.
Ryan Nordheimer shared with his followers a beautiful 15-layer ‘ultimate-funfetti’ cake he made for his friend’s birthday in a TikTok video and then claimed that a restaurant ate the remaining half of the cake.
He said they went to a restaurant where he handed the cake to the hostess until it was time to sing Happy Birthday and blow out the candles.
“I had actually called the restaurant ahead of time to ask if I could cut the cake, but they told me it was a safety hazard,” she said.
Then the cake was taken to be cut and brought to everyone at the table.
He estimated the slices were only “a few millimeters” wide and said, “Doing a rough estimate, there were 12 of us at dinner.” If we are each served a slice of this size or perhaps a little larger, it will be about half of that enormous pie.
“They definitely didn’t serve us the whole pie,” he added.
However, when he asked for the rest of the cake, he was told there was nothing left.
“So the only explanation is that this upscale steakhouse in Midtown New York took the cake, cut us all off lean portions and ate the rest for themselves,” he said.
In her TikTok video, Nordheimer shows the thin slices of cake that each of the table of twelve received
While he was sympathetic and said “maybe they deserve a sweet at the end of the night,” he said the cake was his hard work and a gift for his friend, so the situation felt “disappointing.”
Many commenters on his video in which he shared the story felt he should confront the restaurant and found the situation “insane.”
Nordheimer never named the restaurant, but his followers proved to be keen detectives and believed they had found the restaurant in question.
Beliefs began circulating about Quality Meats restaurant, a popular steakhouse in Midtown Manhattan, which denied the TikToker’s claims.
However, a Quality Meats representative said Today: “We have consulted the security footage of the kitchen that night and we can assure you that our staff did not eat any of the birthday cake.”
They added that the restaurant tries to estimate the number of servings per diner, with a margin in case someone wants more.
In fact, the restaurant had two slices left, adding: “While we acknowledge that we were unable to pack the remaining two slices, allegations that staff ate the cake are completely false.”
Quality Meats also stated that they reached out to Nordheimer to apologize for “the team’s lack of communication that night.”
However, fans went a step further and bombarded the restaurant with fake bad reviews on sites like Yelp, Facebook, and Instagram. Some left emojis or cake GIFs just to reinforce their points, Today reported.
Nordheimer followed up with another video, addressing what really happened.
He said he had received three different phone calls from the restaurant’s management team over two days, who told him they had investigated the matter.
The restaurant confirmed there was a slice of pie left that didn’t make it out, and Nordheimer said “they were super nice” and offered him a free dinner for two as an apology.
He added: “There are a lot of people in that restaurant who are trying to make a living like all of us, and they have admitted that it was a mistake, and I think we all make mistakes, so I can live with that.”
Nordheimer said he believes addressing the team in private correspondence allows him to “more directly address” any issues without tarnishing the company’s reputation.
While he appreciated the loyalty and intentions of his followers, he said he believed some commentators went too far.
He said: “I guess let’s take a chill pill with all the Instagram comments on that poor restaurant’s Instagram page, I really don’t think they meant it or deserved it.”
“I was speaking to management today and hearing that chefs have been receiving damaging threats is extremely disheartening and not something I would wish on anyone. “I didn’t even mention the restaurant in the original video,” he added.
Quality Meats contacted Nordheimer to apologize with a free dinner for two at his restaurant
The restaurant spokesperson said they had reviewed the security footage and assured Nordheimer that the staff did not eat the cake.
While commenters on the video weren’t convinced, one said: “Hahaha, they’re doing damage control at Quality Meats.”
Another wrote: “Everyone who has ever worked in a restaurant in the comments knows it wasn’t lost or forgotten.”
‘They are lying… how did they forget and tell them there was nothing left? “That doesn’t make sense,” said another.
However, Nordheimer said his friend loved the fact that the story broke and thought it was hilarious to see it on the news. He added: “Maybe the birthday gift was the fun we had along the way.”