Earlier this week, staff at Elystan Street restaurant in Chelsea shared video footage of a “porch pirate” taking seafood from the hot spot on Tuesday (25).
The footage went viral, prompting staff at Galvin La Chapelle in Spitalfields, East London, to re-check footage from an alleged theft outside their venue weeks earlier, on November 4.
Insiders say it is the same woman, and footage from the alleged theft in November shows a woman dressed in a white hoodie, black trousers and trainers, swiping bags of meat outside Galvin La Chapelle.
She is seen racing up and down stairs, rifling through boxes outside the establishment’s door before escaping with her swag, said to be worth £800.
Chris Galvin, owner of Galvin La Chapelle, said: “It’s devastating to see this happening in the run-up to Christmas, the busiest and most crucial period for the hospitality industry.
“The produce taken from us wasn’t everyday groceries – it was high-quality, premium meat, and for Elystan Street, it was langoustines!
“These are items that simply don’t end up in someone’s home kitchen, which raises serious concerns that this theft may be feeding into other restaurants.
“As an industry already under immense pressure, it’s disheartening to face targeted behaviour like this, but we hope shining a light on it helps protect other venues from becoming victims.”
Footage of this month’s Chelsea alleged theft was posted online by chef Phil Howard, who owns the restaurant.
Phil wrote on Instagram: “Caught stealing our precious langoustines this morning – you low-life scum bag.
“Hope you rot in hell with your other hard-working mates.”
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Becky McLaughlin, restaurant manager, added: “It’s a cost that somebody just doesn’t realise, where it’s now going to have to be swallowed.
“In these times it’s incredibly different for restaurants so things like this can be so damaging which people don’t realise.’
“I don’t know what they’ll do with them but they’ll have a very lovely supper.
“You can tell in the footage that she can see what’s written on the box, the contents of what’s inside it, and if they were smart then they would know how much it was worth.”
