‘MasterChef’ winner Simon Wood hits out at rude diners who have fancied bookings at his restaurant

It was dinner and one no show.

Celebrity British chef Simon Wood had no reservations about spitting out a group of online diners after they allegedly neglected to turn up at their reserved table at his fine dining restaurant, WOOD, over the weekend.

He grilled them in an X after catching fire on the internet.

Wood, who won hit cooking show MasterChef in 2015, posted a photo of an empty table for five at his eponymous pub in Manchester, England.

“A real image of my chef’s table at 8pm last night,” the steak cutter wrote, putting eager customers in the hot seat. “I want to say a big thank you for the table of 5 that didn’t show up, [not] even a phone call or a courtesy so I can sell the table.”

The boiling mad wood further said, “What a way to support a small business. Much appreciated. You T#%t$.”

X posters also ripped the unnamed party for failing to honor their reservation – a practice that costs restaurants a lot of money as they essentially hold a table for no-shows.

“What beautiful bunches,” wrote UK chef Dean Banks.

“This is a fantastic structure,” said another commenter. “It’s a crime to see it empty. I just can’t understand the attitude that allows that kind of behavior.

However, some armchair restaurateurs suggested that Wood introduce a no-show fee to turn patrons away from the ghosts.

“The business model needs to change,” declared one, who suggested “imposing a deposit policy on reservations, including a non-refundable fee for cancellations within 24 hours.”

They added that Wood can also “sell table reservations in advance for a set fee, including a non-refundable fee for cancellations within 24 hours”.

“As someone who regularly eats at nice restaurants, it’s common to guarantee a reservation with a card,” noted another. “Why don’t you do that? It’s sad that people are so disrespectful to you and your team.”

Larry Yu, a Ph.D. and professor of hospitality management at George Washington University, argued in a 2023 article for MarketScale that “restaurant managers should communicate a clear cancellation policy, which should be prominently displayed on the website or clearly communicated by employees who take telephone reservations”.

He added that these rules should state “the cancellation deadline, the grace period for notifying the restaurant of the delay and at what time the restaurant cannot honor reservations.”

However, chef Wood insisted in responses that a no-show fee is not nearly enough to make up for the “loss of revenue,” adding that the problem lies with people who think they “can go to restaurants and don’t. matter.”

In 2021, NYC restaurateur Keith McNally banned Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter from all of his restaurants after the paper featured a 12-person reservation at Morandio.