Man’s video accusing ritzy NYC restaurant of eating his friend’s birthday cake sparked violent threats – now the truth has come out
A New York City man who accused the staff at a high-end Manhattan steakhouse of eating half of his friend’s birthday cake has apologized after learning the truth, but his followers remain unconvinced.
Influencer and chef Ryan Nordheimer shared with his followers a beautiful 15-tier “ultimate-funfetti” cake that he made for his friend’s birthday.
Nordheimer documented the process of making the cake, which took five to six hours and he said was worth “hundreds” of dollars.
“This was a huge cake, at least twice the size of my head,” he said.
Ryan Nordheimer shared with his followers a beautiful 15-tier “ultimate-funfetti” cake he made for his friend’s birthday in a TikTok video, then claimed a restaurant ate the remaining half of the cake
He said they went to a restaurant where he handed the cake to the hostess until it was time to sing Happy Birthday and blow out the candles.
“I called the restaurant ahead of time to ask if I could cut the cake, but they said it was a safety risk,” he said.
The cake was then taken away to be sliced and the slices were brought back to everyone at the table.
Estimating that the slices were only ‘a few millimeters’ wide, he said: ‘At a rough estimate there were twelve of us at the dinner. If we all got a piece this size, or maybe a little bigger, that would be about half of that huge pie.”
“Certainly not all the cake was served to us,” he added.
However, when he asked for the rest of the cake, he was told there was nothing left.
“So the only explanation is that this high-end steakhouse in New York City Midtown took the cake, cut us all skinny slices and just ate the rest for itself,” he claimed.
In his TikTok video, Nordheimer shows off the thin slices of cake the table of twelve each received
While he was sympathetic and said they “may deserve a little sweet treat at the end of the night,” he said the cake was his hard work and a gift for his friend, so the situation felt “disappointing.”
Many commenters on his video sharing the story felt he should confront the restaurant and called the situation “crazy.”
The restaurant was never mentioned by Nordheimer, but his followers turned out to be avid detectives and thought they had found the restaurant in question.
Beliefs began circling the restaurant as Quality Meats, a popular steakhouse in Midtown Manhattan, which denied the TikToker’s claims.
However, a representative from Quality Meats said so Today: ‘We have seen security footage from the kitchen that evening and can be confident that our staff did not eat any of the birthday cake.’
They added that the restaurant tries to estimate the number of slices per guest, with a buffer in case someone wants more.
The restaurant did indeed have two slices left, further stating, “While we acknowledge that we did not pack the remaining two slices, allegations that the staff ate the cake are completely false.”
Quality Meats also stated that they had contacted Nordheimer to apologize for the team’s “lack of communication that evening.”
However, followers took it a step further and bombarded the restaurant with fake bad reviews on sites like Yelp, Facebook and Instagram. Some left emojis or GIFs to reinforce their points, Today reported.
Nordheimer followed up with another video, describing what really happened.
He said he received three different calls over two days from the restaurant’s management team, telling him they had investigated the matter.
The restaurant confirmed there was a portion of pie left, and Nordheimer said “they were super nice” and offered him a free dinner for two as an apology.
He added: “There are plenty of people in that restaurant who are just trying to make a living just like the rest of us, and they’ve admitted it was a mistake, and I think we all make mistakes, so I can live with that.
Nordheimer said he thinks addressing the team in private correspondence will ensure any issue is “addressed more directly” without damaging the company’s reputation.
While he appreciated the loyalty and intentions of his followers, he said he felt some commentators went too far.
He said: ‘I think we need to take a chill pill at all the Instagram comments on those poor restaurants Instagram page, I don’t really think they meant it or deserved it.’
‘I spoke to management today and to hear that chefs have received damaging threats is extremely disheartening and not something I would ever wish on anyone. “I didn’t even mention the restaurant in the original video,” he added.
Quality Meats contacted Nordheimer to apologize with a free dinner for two at their restaurant
The restaurant spokesperson said they had reviewed the security footage and assured Nordheimer that the staff had not eaten the cake
While commenters on the video weren’t entirely convinced, one said: ‘Lolol at Quality Meats doing damage control’
Another wrote: ‘anyone in the comments who has ever worked in a restaurant knows it’s not just misplaced or forgotten’
“They’re lying… how did they forget and yet they told you there was nothing left? That doesn’t make sense,” said another.
However, Nordheimer said his friend loved that the story blew up, and that he thought it was hilarious to see the story in the news. He added, “Maybe the birthday present was the fun we had along the way.”