Serena Williams has criticised a Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris, alleging she was not allowed to enter there with her children. The Olympian said she and her family were not allowed to enter The Peninsula’s rooftop restaurant, L’Oiseau Blanc, in a post published on X (formerly Twitter). Ms Williams wrote in the post that when her family was there, they were never refused entry.
“Oh @peninsulaparis I’ve never been denied access to empty restaurants or rooftop terraces to eat at nice places but never with my kids. Always the first time. #Olympic2024,” he said on the microblogging website.
Oh @peninsulaparis I was never allowed to go up on the rooftops, eat at empty restaurants or nice places – but never with my kids. Always the first time.#Olympics2024 pic.twitter.com/lEGJR5WoEn
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) August 5, 2024
Maxim Menevi, an employee at the Peninsula’s rooftop restaurant, said, Diversity Ms. Williams was hard to identify when she arrived with another woman pushing a stroller. “There were only two tables vacant when she arrived and they had been reserved by hotel customers,” he said, adding that Ms. Williams was not working when she arrived at the restaurant.
“My coworker didn’t recognize him and felt really bad, but he told him what he would tell any other customer, to wait at the bar downstairs until a table was free. It wasn’t personal at all.”
The restaurant responded to the Grand Slam champion’s claim, reiterating their reasons for keeping Ms Williams and her children away from the table. “In response to the tweet from Ms Williams, for whom we have the utmost admiration and respect, as we do for all of our esteemed guests, we reiterate our deepest apologies that when she visited with her family and without a reservation, we were unable to offer her a table at our rooftop bar,” the hotel said in a statement. New York Post.
“We always try to accommodate walk-in guests but sometimes that just isn’t possible,” he said.
The statement further said, “On August 5, our rooftop bar was fully booked, and the only table vacant at the time was at our gourmet restaurant, L’Oiseau Blanc, which was fully reserved. As an alternative, Ms. Williams was offered an outdoor table downstairs at the hotel’s La Terrasse Kléber. We have always been honored to welcome you and we will always welcome you back.”
The 23-time Grand Slam champion arrived in Paris in late July, just in time for the “unforgettable” Olympic opening ceremony, which she attended as a torchbearer. Along with fellow tennis champion Rafael Nadal, nine-time medallist Carl Lewis, French great Zinedine Zidane, Teddy Riner, Marie-Jose Perec and Tony Parker, Ms Williams joined a long tradition of athletes carrying the torch. She has also won four Olympic gold medals during her career.
