Editor’s note: After this story published, Geoffrey Lee confirmed to Gazetteer SF Friday that he is stepping down from his three restaurants — Hamburger Project, Handroll Project, and Ju-ni following an Instagram announcement. “My opinions do not reflect those of the hardworking people at the restaurant who have been affected,” he told Gazetteer.
Just days after the San Francisco Chronicle ran a glowing review of the newly-opened Hamburger Project — the latest venture from Geoffrey Lee, celebrated chef at Ju-ni and Handroll Project — influencer Kathleen Ensign posted her take on the buzzy burger joint.
Ensign’s review, which she posted to TikTok on Dec. 10, was less than favorable, but by her standards, not harsh: She gave their “Wisconsin” burger a “good not great” 7.2 rating, calling it “Ozempic” thin. Their “classic” was not for her, snagging a 5.1.
What happened next is a matter of some disagreement. But this, at least, is true: Lee first posted negative comments on the review. Then, after Ensign posted publicly about the comments and tagged him, he began to send her angry DMs. These included voice memos, one of which featured his young daughter calling Ensign a “dumbface” and asking “why you do that to dad?”
@katwalksf Replying to @Free Will Fine Art hamburger project 🍔 geoffrey lee comments + voice notes 🤷🏼♀️ #sftok #burger #sffoodie #burgerlover #sanfrancisco #cheeseburger
♬ The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived - Taylor Swift
In a call with me, Ensign described Lee’s response to what was, to her, a “very mild” review, as “crazy.” She said he harangued her for days with DMs and now-deleted comments on her posts, screenshots of which she shared with both me and her tens of thousands of social media followers. Lee, meanwhile, argued that Ensign repeatedly provoked him with “premature” negative feedback on his restaurant, and that his posts were about standing up for himself and the work his team has put into the nascent smash burger shop.
Lee says that Ensign has posted non-stop about him since he DMed her, driving negative feedback and online reviews from people “thousands of miles away.” Ensign accused him of sending inflammatory messages about her age and appearance.
“I’ve just not been responding to it because I’ve been taking the high road,” Lee said. “Unfortunately, she has galvanized many to comment on the restaurant without having been there and my business partner and I think it’s unjust.”
The response online has been swift. Social media users have posted a handful of one-star reviews on Yelp and Google as of Thursday afternoon, many of them referencing the videos. (Yelp has since paused user reviews of the restaurant.) Several well-known San Francisco influencers have expressed support for Ensign, vowing to boycott Hamburger Project and Lee’s other restaurants.
@katwalksf hamburger project review #sftok #burger #sffoodie #smashburger #bayareafoodies #burgertok
♬ I Only Smoke When I Drink - nimino
The 38-year-old fashion blogger and influencer boasts more than 138,000 followers on Instagram and another 14,000 on TikTok. Her food reviews, like plenty of online video-based food content, tend toward the hyperbolic: In a review of the egg rolls at Guy Fieri’s Chicken Guy chain, she said, “This is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever put in my mouth that was prepared by a celebrity chef.”
Her review of Hamburger Project may have been relatively tame in her eyes, but it still set Lee off. “most people like it,” he wrote in a since-deleted comment on the post. “Maybe you it’s you and you have poor taste? Just my honest opinion.”
After the two exchanged comments, Lee says that Ensign posted an Instagram story calling him out and “egging him on.” That’s when he says he first sent her direct messages: A quote from legendary celebrity chef Marco Pierre White and two voice memos from him and his daughter. Ensign posted the messages to TikTok.
“Hey, why you do that to dad?” Lee’s daughter asks in the audio. “You so dumb face. Bye. Bye. You’re so rude. You’re really rude. Bye.” Lee hops in shortly after: “Wow, an honest review of you. Kids don’t lie.”
Lee defended himself to me, saying that Ensign kept on posting about him. ”She said that my reply was worse than the burgers and she kept on spurring the confrontation and tagged me in more of her stories,” he said.
Ensign, meanwhile, says the entire exchange was unnerving. “There was no reasoning with him. There was no calming him down and he was taking low blows at me,” she said.
Both Ensign and Lee sent me partial screenshots of their exchanges. In one of the few exchanges they both sent to support their side of the story, Ensign wrote, “If you’re so busy why are you fighting for your life in my comments and DMs?”
“Because someone needs to tell you to grow up,” Lee wrote back. “It’s pathetic being damn near 50 and trying to have influence over 20 year old somethings to try to remain some kind of sense of relativity. All of chefs look down on it and one of us has to tell you.”
Ensign has since blocked Lee; Lee has deleted many of his angry comments on her posts, emphasizing that he has not contacted her “in well over a week.”
Lee showed me a number of private messages of support he’s received from restaurateurs, including one who said their business was similarly affected by Ensign’s content. When I asked if he would do things differently if he had a chance for a do-over, he stood by his initial response.
“When I open up a passion project, it is like having another child, and I’m going to stand up for my children,” he told me.
