Kronstad has since responded to the backlash in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE. She claims that the pair said the meal "would be covered if I left a tip," which she calls a normal arrangement in hospitality.
The owners of a New Orleans restaurant are speaking out after a blogger left a negative review of their restaurant and allegedly walked out on a nearly $300 bill.
Bella Blue and her husband Andrew Principe, co-owners of the 7th Ward restaurant Pulcinella! and the upstairs burlesque bar The Original Nite Cap, allege that Diane Kronstad -- the editor of a fashion blog called Fashions Digest -- contacted the restaurant via Instagram DM asking to come in and make content featuring the restaurant.
In a video addressing the incident posted to Blue's Instagram account, Blue says she responded to Kronstad's initial DMs by asking for clarification regarding payment expectations for the visit, including whether or not the restaurant would need to comp the meal.
A screen recording shared by Blue on her Instagram shows a message from what appears to be the Fashions Digest Instagram saying, "No payment necessary for this visit. Just need to select from the food and and drink menu to review and shoot photos/reels. There will be two people myself and content creator."
Blue and her husband, Andrew Principe, say that Kronstad and her guest ultimately consumed nearly $300 worth of food and drinks at their restaurant, Pulcinella!, before allegedly refusing to pay the bill.
In the Google review that Kronstad left on Pulcinella's page, she wrote that the food was "average at best, yet priced like a fine dining spot in a much nicer part of New Orleans" and went on to call its location "sketchy."
"We're a neighborhood joint. We take service very seriously, so a two-star review really stands out. And I was like, 'I'm not going to take this anymore,'" Principe told PEOPLE of his decision to respond publicly to Kronstad's review.
Principe responded to Kronstad's initial review with a message indicating that he filed a police report for the matter. According to Principe, the initial report and a second attempt at filing have since been rejected, classifying it as a civil matter rather than a criminal one, Principe tells PEOPLE. The couple says they are still waiting for a detective to come out to the restaurant.
After Principe responded to Kronstad's initial review, she edited her review, calling his response "completely unhinged."
Speaking with PEOPLE, Principe said the party arrived late and ordered "pretty much everything on the menu," including multiple drinks and wine. He explained that an average check at the couple's restaurant is around $40, so running up that expensive of a bill for two people was "quite a feat."
When it came time to pay, Principe claims the pair refused.
Principe says he ultimately covered the bill -- which he was able to discount -- out of his own pocket and tipped the server. He also stated that upon confronting the party in the restaurant, they agreed to leave a tip but again attempted to leave without doing so, returning to leave a 10% cash tip after being stopped again outside the restaurant by Principe.
Principe says that the situation gained further traction online after one of Pulcinella's chefs posted about it on Instagram, sparking conversations in Reddit groups like "r/NYCinfluencersnark" and local New Orleans forums.
"People don't know what it's like to own a restaurant, and there's so many pitfalls, and so many challenges that you face, and this whole influencer culture is one of them," he says of the incident. "We will gladly work with ethical influencers, but to tell us that you don't need anything from us and then show up and run up one of the bigger per person tabs we've ever seen is just offensive."
In a statement shared with PEOPLE, Kronstad responded to the controversy, clarifying her role in the incident. She explained that she often reaches out to local businesses in new cities to "spotlight the vibrant local scene through photos, videos, and honest storytelling," and that she does not charge restaurants for coverage.
After experiencing a flight delay the day of the reservation, Kronstad says she called to push her reservation to a later time, and was met with what she describes as a "confusing and cold" reception when she eventually arrived at the restaurant.
"There was no introduction from the manager or owner, to which is typically how these types of visits begin -- especially when it's known that I'm there to cover the experience," Kronstad wrote in her statement. "If someone had come by to set expectations or even just say hello, I'm confident the confusion about billing and hosting could've been avoided."
Kronstad says she was surprised at the end of the meal to learn that only the dessert had been comped by the restaurant, which she claims she was not informed of in advance.
"To be clear, I never expect free meals -- I expect clarity," Kronstad writes. "But in the world of restaurant PR, it's common practice for food and drink to be comped in exchange for high-quality content, especially when creators are offering photography, video, social media exposure, and storytelling that restaurants can repurpose."
Kronstad also writes that the "tone shifted dramatically" when Blue and Principe finally approached her table. She claims that the pair said the meal "would be covered if I left a tip," which she calls a normal arrangement in hospitality. "We absolutely intended to tip," she writes, "but at that point the situation felt unsafe and unpredictable." She alleges that Principe raised his voice at her and her guest and followed the pair of them back to their car.
The response to the incident has continued to grow online and across social media.
"Since that night, I've received thousands of abusive and threatening messages across multiple platforms," Kronstad wrote. "Regardless of how it began, no one should be subjected to that kind of attack -- especially over what could have been a simple conversation or clarification."
"I want to end by saying this: I love discovering local restaurants. I respect the work that chefs, staff, and owners put into creating beautiful dining experiences," Kronstad clarifies. "I'm not sharing this to stir controversy, but to defend my name and the integrity of what I do --and to speak on behalf of many other content creators who navigate these blurry lines every day with care,respect,and professionalism."