Michelin-starred restaurant hits out at blogger's 'cheeky' request for free meal

The Campagne restaurant in Ireland was unimpressed with a blogger's request for a free dinner. Photo / 123RF, Campagne Restaurant

A Michelin-starred restaurant has hit out at a blogger's "cheeky" request for a free meal in exchange for "online exposure".

Garrett Byrne, owner of the Campagne restaurant‏ in Kilkenny, Ireland, says he gets around ten similar requests from bloggers a year and has "had enough", according to Telegraph UK.

The chef proprietor shared an email from an unnamed blogger on Twitter, who wrote: "In exchange for a vegan meal for two, we would be happy to provide significant online exposure on both our blogs and social media accounts."

The start of another week in paradise..🙄 pic.twitter.com/zLP3bhBORV

— campagne restaurant (@campagnekilkenn) September 19, 2017

They added: "We would ideally like to try several items on the menu."

However the request was flatly turned down by the restaurant's owner who says the reaction to his tweet has been "crazy".

But the online exposure!!! It's "significant"...

— BeoirFinder (@BeoirFinder) September 19, 2017

"I don't normally tweet about them, but this one just struck a chord," he told The Telegraph. "We get about 10 per year on average.

"I don't think they are exploitative for the most part, it's just I don't think restaurants should entertain them.

"I see these requests throughout the year and I've had enough of them, so i decided to tweet it and it has pretty much gone crazy yesterday and today."

The restaurant's response has been praised on social media, with Amy Catherine tweeting: "I am mortified by this as a blogger!"

Another wrote: "These 'influencers' really are something else..."

I stopped at several dishes

— campagne restaurant (@campagnekilkenn) September 19, 2017