Seattle Sushi Chain Temporarily Shuts Down Restaurants After Backlash From Keith Lee Fans | Eater Seattle

"Seattle metro locations temporarily closed after food-safety concerns following a visit from popular food TikTok personality Keith Lee — the online reviewer known for critiquing restaurants from his car. Lee posted content on Sunday, November 10 and introduced the spot by saying, "[This is] sushi done in the most unique way I’ve ever seen in my life," explaining that the restaurant sells sushi by the pound: he "picked out $15 worth, grabbing a large box but then only filling up a small portion of it because he has a shellfish allergy (famously, he left SF abruptly after having a reaction)." In the video many of the nigiri and sashimi servings appeared contaminated by being in close proximity to shellfish; he ate several pieces, "mostly declaring the sushi rice overcooked but the fish good." Viewers then claimed they saw something moving on a piece Lee ate at 1:50 in the video, and demanded a statement. The restaurant responded on Instagram, calling claims that there was a worm in the piece of fish "false" and adding, "[W]e follow strict FDA and HACCP standards to ensure the highest quality and safety in every dish. The movement in the video is due to natural elasticity in the fish—not worms." The post also detailed storage temperatures and suppliers and reminded followers the business had "never faced any health concerns." King 5 reported that a health inspector visited in January and found no issues. Lee later replied: "It did appear that something moved," although he said he didn’t see it at the time and cannot "confirm or deny" what it was; he said he suffered no ill effects but claimed someone who went there on his recommendation allegedly ended up in the hospital. He added, "For the restaurant to post a statement indicating that me holding the sushi or me holding the chopsticks a certain way is why the sushi moved — I personally don’t agree with it," and clarified he was not asserting there was definitively a worm or parasite, only that the movement wasn’t his fault. On Monday, November 18 the business posted that locations in Bellevue (where Lee ate) and Seattle were closing "until further notice" and said it is conducting a "thorough investigation" into what happened and how to prevent it from happening again." - Courtney E. Smith