Hospitality Heroes: An act of kindness goes viral

Fine Dining Lovers’ Hospitality Heroes are the people and restaurants who go above and beyond in the name of delivering outstanding hospitality. Whether it is a legacy restaurateur upholding a family tradition of excellence in fine dining, or a sommelier who advocates for better inclusivity in restaurants, there are truly inspiring people out there who dedicate themselves to elevating the restaurant experience both for guests and for staff in the name of real hospitality.

The Heroes were nominated by Fine Dining Lovers readers and one of the restaurants that was singled out in the name of outstanding service was Luciano by Gino D’Acampo, at the ME London hotel in the city’s West End, where staff consistently work to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere for their guests.

The restaurant went viral in 2021, shortly after opening, when New Zealand songwriter Natalie Te Paa, who is blind, went to there to celebrate her birthday. The restaurant’s pastry chef not only created special desserts to celebrate the occasion, but wrote happy birthday in braille using melted chocolate for her.

Te Paa was completely overwhelmed by this kind act and when she shared the video of her reaction on Tik Tok it went viral. The video has garnered 6.2 million views on the social media platform to date.

“My mind was blank for a second and then I was like, 'Is this in braille?’ I found it hard to string a sentence together," Te Paa said. "My mind was just going. I've never had anything happen like that before. It was wild.”

In news reports at the time, the Restaurant Manager was quoted as saying, “We still can’t believe it, how a little gesture that we would do every day went viral, we can’t believe it. We don’t even know how to react to it. Hospitality is about service, about the basics of service, making their day.”

The restaurant, which is owned by Italian chef Gino D’Acampo, well-traveled entrepreneur and staple of UK morning television, is an example of how kindness and attention to detail can contribute to a hugely effective business model.

The type of publicity a viral video like the one Te Paa shared cannot be bought for a restaurant but it’s heartening to see the overwhelming response from Fine Dining Lovers readers, who want to celebrate the (still very much alive) art of hospitality.