A Toronto food influencer has issued an extensive apology to a new restaurant that recently called him out after his request for a free meal in exchange for promotion of the business was denied. 

The LC Cafe, located at 3290 Midland Ave., is a brand new Hong Kong restaurant that just opened up in Scarborough.

Earlier this month, the restaurant uploaded multiple Instagram stories that showed the business' interaction with a local food influencer, Daniel, who expressed his interest in working with the cafe to promote their food.

"I've worked with different businesses in the area including the Pho place right near you called Linh Anh. I noticed you already worked with some foodies and was wondering if you wanted to work together to promote your restaurant food?" Daniel wrote in a message to LC Cafe. 

Toronto restaurant calls out influencer after request for free meal was denied 😬https://t.co/BMin73AClk #Toronto #Scarborough

— blogTO (@blogTO) October 12, 2023

After receiving no response for a few hours, Daniel messaged the cafe for a second time and mentioned their work with another local influencer who recently covered the business. 

"I'm assuming you guys will not answer me? You guys answered me before. Very poor business practice. There are other restaurants I will support. I will not be supporting yours," he wrote. 

"Thank you for your message. We don't have enough manpower to go through messages," the cafe responded. "But I just saw it, whoever came to my cafe, there were coming by themselves but [no] invitation. Thank you," the business responded. 

"The foodie I knew and some of them are your friends. They won't send me these kinds of messages. Everyone has their choice to reply. I didn't mean I was disrespectful to anyone. Please go support those who reply in a second," the owner wrote. 

"In the future, please do not send us a message if we open a new restaurant. Your practice is not accepted." 

The restaurant also informed Daniel that the other YouTuber who covered the business came to the restaurant on their own time and paid for their own meal. 

Following a mix of heated backlash and support from the local community, Daniel issued an extensive apology, acknowledging that the words he said to the business were "hurtful and unprofessional." 

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The influencer also announced that he would be taking some time off social media to reflect on the incident and urged others to continue supporting local businesses, especially during difficult times.