New Zealand mayor accused of drunkenly berating staff, dining and dashing

A New Zealand mayor has been accused of drunkenly berating restaurant staff for not knowing who she was before leaving without paying the bill.

Wellington mayor Tory Whanau has agreed she was “tipsy” and “a little bit merry” at the restaurant Friday night but said she never told staff, “do you know who I am?”.

She said leaving the restaurant without paying for her meal was an “honest mistake” which she had rectified the following day when sobriety had taken hold.

Shay Lomas, the manager of Vietnamese fusion restaurant The Old Quarter, told Wellington newspaper The Post the mayor was already a “bit tipsy” when she arrived at the establishment around 7pm on Friday.

Lomas said staff debated not serving her but decided to take her order because it was food.

The waiter who served the mayor said she held a bottle of wine and asked him “do you know who I am?”.

When he guessed that she might have been a politician the mayor Whanau allegedly replied: “I’m the mayor, can you do your thing?”.

Whanau and her friend then left the restaurant without paying the bill

Ms Whanau said there were different versions about what she had allegedly said and claimed her failure to pay for her meal was nothing more than a “miscommunication” between her and her friend, with both thinking each other had paid.

She said she was “mortified” by the mistake and returned the next morning to pay the bill.