Love Crepe: Drummoyne restaurant owner speaks on mask saga

A defiant dessert bar owner has taken to social media for a fresh video rant on wearing face masks, just hours after copping a backlash for declaring them a “crime against humanity”.

The owner of an inner west dessert bar that sparked controversy over its anti-mask social media posts has broken his silence, apologising to his staff but doubling down on his stance.

Drummoyne’s Love Crepe owner Nick Kondilis posted a 10-minute video to Instagram late last night, ranting at times, in an attempt to clear the air over the drama.

A police spokesman yesterday said they were making inquiries after the posts had been reported to officers and attracted hundreds of comments on social media.

“I want to apologise to anyone who got offended, there was never any intent to offend anyone,” Mr Kondilis said.

One of the posts that attracted attention.

“I want to apologise to my staff, they’ve got nothing to do with this at all … the photo went out with all my staff on there, I shouldn’t have used that photo, I take full responsibility for that.”

Mr Kondilis went on to add that his stance against wearing masks was down to “mental health”.

“I believe they (masks) don’t work, that’s my opinion and I’m entitled to my opinion,” he said.

“I’ve had that on my mind for a while and I wanted to get my message out there.

Mr Kondilis pictured in 2016.

He addressed the issue in a 10-minute video last night.

“But I agree that it wasn’t worded correctly, I shouldn’t have worded it like that and this is why people are so upset with me.”

The restaurant had sparked hundreds of customers to flood its social media on Wednesday, criticising it promoting anti-mask conspiracy theories.

“Love Crepe believes being forced to wear a face mask is a crime against humanity,” one of the now-deleted posts said.

“Our staff is not forced to wear a mask,” another said.

A large number of people have also backed Mr Kondilis’s stance against mandatory mask wearing laws which came into effect on Monday.

Hospitality workers have to wear a mask while on the job or face a $200 fine.

Mr Kondilis said he contacted Service NSW before this week’s new rules to confirm that his staff did not have to wear masks because they were an “outdoor venue”.