Accusations against Konstantin Filippou

VIENNA - Former employees have levelled accusations against Konstantin Filippou, who runs the two-star restaurant of the same name. Citing eight former employees as well as photos, videos, invoices, documents and internal chats, the Viennese newspaper reports, among other things, that guests were misled about the origin of high-quality ingredients. According to the report, "frozen, shelled scallops" from the Northwest Pacific, which are significantly cheaper, were served instead of the Norwegian scallops listed on the menu. The newspaper has corresponding invoices as evidence. When asked by the Wiener Zeitung, Konstantin Filippou admitted that he had sometimes used other products of "equally high quality" if the desired product was not available. The guests were informed of this by the staff. Former employees contradict this, according to the report. According to the research, a similar procedure is also said to have taken place with oysters, Norway lobster and soya sauce. According to the WZ, invoices are also available for this. Filippou does not want to provide the newspaper with evidence to the contrary, she explains. After WZ's enquiry, the high-quality ingredients were no longer listed on the menu on the restaurant's website.

In addition, the former employees accuse Filippou of verbal abuse and pressure that allegedly went beyond what is customary in the industry. "We are all used to working a lot. But with Filippou, it borders on exploitation," the newspaper quotes one ex-employee as saying. Others mentioned expressions such as 'arsehole' or 'fuck you', which were "standard". When asked by WZ, Filippou confirmed that he had used the expressions mentioned: "To my great regret, this statement certainly happened to me in a moment of stress. "I can rule out an intentional insult," the newspaper quotes him as saying in the report. It also has documents from the Chamber of Labour, according to which overtime was only paid out after he was threatened with a lawsuit. The newspaper also reports, with reference to videos and statements from former employees, that cooking took place in a basement room which, according to the relevant authorities, should only have been used as a storage room. When asked by the newspaper, Filippou denied that cooking took place there.

Konstantin and Manuela Filippou respond to allegations

Konstantin and Mauela Filippou published a detailed statement later in the day about the comments that have already been included in the Wiener Zeitung report. They explain, "Where there is a need for change, this has been done immediately or was already underway. Where errors have occurred, these have been corrected or are currently still being processed." They also announced further statements in the following days. The products on the website had been "updated, immediately corrected and rectified". At the same time, the operators of the two-star restaurant and two other locations emphasised that "we do not engage in any labelling fraud, nor do we use fake ingredients." They want to take responsibility for mistakes. "When it comes to goods and their origin and availability, traceability is more important today than ever. We will therefore continue to review all internal processes even more intensively and, where necessary, make further adjustments. To ensure that our guests continue to receive all important and correct information in the future, we are now implementing the following measures in addition to our existing strict quality management:

• Daily updating and posting of detailed product and origin information online and offline.
• Introduction of an even stricter control system for internal documentation and external dissemination of origin information.
• Even closer collaboration with suppliers to ensure transparency regarding origin and quality.
• More intensive training for our team so that information is passed on to our guests without any gaps."

The restaurateurs also hold out the prospect of changes to working conditions. The four-day week has already been introduced and kitchen times have been shortened. "There will be further development of our standards in the future:

• Sensitisation workshops for the team.
• A Code of Conduct that communicates our existing values even more clearly, both internally and externally.
• Introduction of an independent and anonymous complaints
• complaints procedure for our employees."