A 19‑year‑old trainee barista at a café in Hampstead, London, was dismissed on Sunday after a Jewish customer received a cappuccino with cocoa powder shaped in what appeared to be a swastika, Jewish News reported.
The customer, a 45‑year‑old north London father who asked to remain anonymous, told Jewish News he had gone out “for breakfast this morning with my family" and that staff “were very, very helpful and got us in."
His wife ordered a cappuccino, and “when it landed, I saw that and said, ‘surely that is a swastika?’" He said he “didn’t want to make a scene," but called over the manager and explained: “‘Listen, we’re Jewish, maybe visibly, so to me, that looks like a very obvious symbol, and we’re not okay with it.’ Fair to him, he was mortified."
The general manager of the café “took a picture of it himself" before returning to apologize, telling the family: “‘Listen, I’m absolutely sorry. I don’t think the intention is there at all. There was no intent there. We’ve got a trainee barista. He’s a 19-year-old kid. He says he doesn’t even know what a swastika is himself. He was trying to do a swirl. We’re terribly, terribly sorry.’"
The customer said the matter ended there for him, noting that “it just goes to show how quickly something can escalate when it’s symbols like that." He added that he “didn’t necessarily need the kid fired," but wanted acknowledgment that “it was not OK," which he said happened quickly.
The manager later confirmed to Jewish News: “This has never happened before. I was really upset. I fired him. He’s young, and he started to cry and was shaking, but I got so upset. I fired him. He’s no longer working here."
The barista told his manager he did not know what he had drawn. The manager told Jewish News, “‘He said he didn’t know. I said, ‘What do you mean you didn’t know?’ He said, ‘I swear I didn’t do it.’"
The manager said he acted immediately to show Jewish customers the seriousness of the incident. “I did take immediate action. He was lucky, because I got so upset and I’ve got a really bad temper. I kicked him out straight away."
The customer said he did not see who made the coffee but added, “Ultimately, if there was intent, then I’m glad he got fired. If there wasn’t, then it’s a really harsh lesson for the kid. Symbols carry weight whether we like it or not." He said he would return to the café and thanked management “for taking the matter so seriously."
While this incident may not have been antisemitic in nature, it comes as Britain has seen a sharp rise in incidents of antisemitism since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza.
In October, a lecture by an Israeli academic at City St. George’s, University of London, was disrupted when anti-Israel activists burst into his classroom, shouting accusations and threats.
In November, police in London moved an anti-Israel protest away from St. John’s Wood Synagogue after dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the building.
A week later, anti-Israel protesters in London targeted an Israeli-owned bakery.
This past Friday, a Jewish camp leader and a child were reportedly forced out of an Uber on a country road in Staffordshire following a conversation the driver initiated about Judaism and Israel.