Eater reports that New York restaurant Jeju Noodle Bar was graffitied with “stop eating dogs” at a time when Asians are receiving racist assault linked to Coronavirus.
Chef and owner Douglas Kim said the message was written with a Sharpie marker across a plastic window pane.
The restaurant, which is the first and only noodle restaurant to receive a Michelin Star in the US, has been closed since 16 March due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A customer who lives nearby noticed on 10 April the graffiti and sent the image to Kim.
“I’m so sorry to have to relay this message and even more sorry that someone was horrible enough to do that,” the customer said in an Instagram direct message to Kim.
Kim was able to scrub away the graffiti the following day but he was far from impressed by the attack.
Rep Judy Chu recently revealed there are 100 incidents of targeted racial hate a day towards Asian Americans as a consequence of Coronavirus racism.
Consequently, Asian Americans are becoming first-time gun owners to protect themselves against such assault.
Kim said his restaurant was not offering delivery partly because his staff felt unsafe commuting due to the rising number of attacks on Asians.
The restaurant owner did not report the incident to the police because he felt there would be no positive outcome.
“How are they going to find that person?” Kim said. “How seriously are they going to take it?”
Instead, Kim uploaded the image of the graffiti to the restaurant’s Instagram page.
“Stop! Hate crime! This was on our winter vestibule,” the caption read. “And one of customer reported to us and she also suggested if she can clean up for us. Wake up and grow up!”
“This is very tough time for everyone and we do not have time for this kind uneducated action. This hate crime must be stop now.”
In related news, a Coronavirus hate tracker has shown that Asian women are being harassed twice as much as men.
