Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau accused of not paying restaurant bill, saying ‘Do you know who I am?’

A major city mayor has been accused of leaving a restaurant without paying the bill after telling a waiter: ‘Do you know who I am?’

Tory Whanau, the mayor of New Zealand’s capital Wellington, strenuously denies she uttered the words and that she was drunk last Friday night at the Old Quarter Vietnamese fusion restaurant.

But the 40-year-old does admit to being ‘tipsy’ and leaving without paying the tab because of a ‘miscommunication’ with friends that has left her feeling ‘mortified’.

Speaking on Monday, Ms Whanau said she was ‘a little bit merry after a few wines and a hearty meal’ but that her not wearing makeup was mistaken for being drunk. 

‘I wasn’t wearing makeup, maybe that’s what half the problem was, because it was a nice casual Friday,’ she said on radio station Newstalk ZB, after video emerged of her interaction with a waiter while holding a bottle of wine.

Restaurant manager Shay Lomas said staff considered not serving alcohol to Ms Whanau when she arrived, but decided it was OK because she was ordering food.

Tory Whanau (pictured), the mayor of New Zealand’s capital Wellington, rejected accusations she was drunk last Friday night at the Old Quarter Vietnamese fusion restaurant

Mr Lomas said the mayor may have just been joking when she allegedly asked staff if they knew who she was.

‘I’d say she was trying to be funny but also not really – it was a mixture of serious and a bit ditzy, there wasn’t anything really disrespectful about it, it was just like ‘do you recognise me?’,’ he told The Post newspaper.

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Andrew Jenkins, the waiter who served her, claimed at one point she held a bottle of wine as she asked him ‘do you know who I am?’

He did not know who she was, but guessed she was a politician, which allegedly led to Ms Whanau saying ‘I’m the mayor, can you do your thing?’

The mayor rejects the interaction took place and said: ‘That’s just something I wouldn’t say. I deny saying that.’ 

The restaurant manager said the staff mentioned it seemed as if the mayor may have been trying to get special treatment, but he had not served her personally so he couldn’t confirm that. 

Video emerged of Ms Whanau’s interaction with a waiter while holding a bottle of wine (pictured)

Ms Whanau said that she and her friend leaving without paying was just an ‘honest mistake’. The Old Quarter restaurant is pictured

Ms Whanau said that she and her friend leaving without paying was just an ‘honest mistake’. 

‘(It was a) miscommunication, we (each) thought the other person had paid the bill,’ she said. 

‘(We were) mortified, absolutely embarrassed to realise the next morning that we hadn’t, so she paid it immediately.’

Mr Lomas confirmed the $140 tab was paid the next day. 

Ms Whanau said she had ‘no regrets’ about her eventful night out, but in future she would be more conscious about people recording her.