Last week the editor, broadcaster and literary critic Ellah Wakatama Allfrey OBE claimed she wouldn’t return to The Wolseley after being carelessly discriminated against because of her race.

Allfrey, a Zimbabwe-born writer and former deputy editor at Granta magazine, wrote on her Twitter account how she had considered “enduring in silence” but decided there was “no solace in that” before accusing staff at The Wolseley of discrimination last week.

In her post, Allfrey said she was having “drinks [with] beloved author @TheWolseley this eve,” and that on arrival entered the restaurant ahead of a “white woman.” According to Allfrey, rather than serving her, the Maitre d’ “sees her behind me but not me in front of him and seats her first.”

Despite its outstanding reputation, the restaurant’s behaviour was clearly offensive with Allfrey saying, “the martini was good but now I can’t go back.” She has since accepted an apology by the restaurant.

The Wolseley, based in Piccadilly and a haunt for celebrities, is well known across the UK. It is a favourite restaurant of former Sunday Times critic AA Gill and owned by high-class restauranteurs Chris Corbin and Jeremy King.

Thinking of enduring in silence but no solace in that. So! Drinks w/ beloved author @TheWolseley this eve & through the door w/ white woman. Maitre D’ sees her behind me but not me in front of him & seats her first. The martini was good but now I can’t go back because FFS … — EllahWakatamaAllfrey (@epwa66) April 16, 2019

It is believed that Allfrey was with the novelist Sulaiman Addonia, who wrote The Consequences of Love in 2008 which was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. His second book, Silence is My Mother Tongue, was published by Indigo Press where Allfrey is currently the Publishing Director.

Addonia responded to Allfrey’s criticism of The Wolseley tweeting, “thank you Ellah for sharing and not enduring in silence. It was beautiful and uplifting to see you.”

When asked if the incident had been investigated, a spokeswoman for The Wolseley was initially defensive before stating, “I can assure you any complaint is looked into by management and appropriate action taken following an investigation.” They added, “at Corbin & King, we don’t tolerate discrimination of any nature.”

However, rather worryingly, another user replied to Allfrey’s tweet suggesting he’d also experienced discrimination at the restaurant. “[Very] shabby of @TheWolseley but not at all surprising. I’ve had similar experiences there,” wrote Sanjit Chudha, a marketing professional and writer.

Allfrey has previously worked as a senior editor at Random House, written for The Guardian and Daily Telegraph, presented for the BBC, been a Man Booker judge and in April was announced as trustee of the Caine Prize for African Writing— amongst many other accolades.

After making her feelings known on Twitter, The Wolseley reached out to Allfrey.

Hello – we have seen your Tweet and would very much like to discuss further – please do send us a private message with your contact details and our GM will be in touch. — The Wolseley (@TheWolseley) April 17, 2019

“I had a good conversation with the [manager] who rang me. I believed him when he said the staff are trained not to discriminate and while he didn’t try to excuse the carelessness, I was also clear in saying that extra attention is obviously needed,” said Allfrey afterwards.

“As a black woman, the experience of that carelessness is compounded by quotidian and wearing experiences of not being seen and other, more overt, aggressions. That evening I was exhausted by it all.”

“I accepted the apology, said what I needed to say, and am satisfied for now that they’ll pay better attention next time.”

Potentially a couple of isolated cases or something more ingrained? In any case, the owners would do well to urgently investigate and take serious action.

Have you ever experienced discrimination at a London restaurant? Let us know.

Reporting by Patrick Tobasco