Garden Shed Beats Top London Chefs With Shaving Foam Foot Menu

A backyard outbuilding tricked the city’s food crowd by showcasing cleaning supplies and a snapshot of its founder’s own toes.

Oobah Butler decided to troll the whole city while writing for Vice Magazine. He claimed his backyard structure in Dulwich was a fine-dining hotspot nobody knew about yet. Listen, Chillers, I’m already suspicious of any place you find at the end of a lane, but this guy had a plan.

The magic happened when he asked mates to flood TripAdvisor with fake praise. They got the ghost venue ranked inside the top 2000 spots in the entire capital. My bet is half those reviews came from people who’ve never seen a proper kitchen.

Then the list climbed until the spot sat at the very top. Customers bombarded him with booking requests before the website finally took the page down. It proves that if you play the game hard enough, you win the gold medal before opening the doors.

What Was Actually On The Menu?

When the calendar hit November 2017, Butler finally opened the doors for a single evening. He staged a proper opening night that served ten guests. Some attendees walked away swearing they would book again and tell their friends.

The crowd arrived blindfolded and got walked down an alleyway past his home to reach the backyard. That level of theatre is exactly why I respect the hustle, even if the destination is just a wooden box. Some diners left saying they wanted to return, which makes me wonder what kind of spell he cast.

Now, let’s talk about the food, because this is where my stomach starts cramping just reading the notes. The menu listed dishes based on feelings, like a vegan clam soup served with rye crisps under the title Empathetic. I don’t know about you, but I prefer my emotions plated on ceramic, not in a broom closet.

The photos showed plates built from cleaning supplies and personal grooming items, including shaving foam and dishwasher tablets.

One shot featured a raw piece of meat that turned out to be a picture of Butler’s own bare foot. If you ask me, nothing kills your appetite faster than realizing your steak has toes.

To pull off the illusion, Butler relied on his old side gig posting paid lies about other eateries. He used to charge £10 for each review, picking random menu items and making up stories without blinking. I guess mastering the art of the fake compliment prepares you perfectly for building a restaurant from thin air.

Ready Meals In A Palace?

Here is the plot twist that leaves me shaking my head at the sheer absurdity. During the actual service, the chefs handed out thinly disguised meals that cost just one pound each. I expected gourmet nonsense, but getting cheap frozen food wrapped in high-end drama is a move I didn’t see coming.

The prank worked so well because micro-restaurants were suddenly the hottest trend everyone wanted to chase. Even a serious chef named Tom Kerridge opened a real intimate venue called The Shed near his pub in Marlow around the same time. That coincidence makes me laugh, because now the joke has a legitimate rival wearing the name tag.

The whole operation attracted only a single bad review, which Butler assumed belonged to a jealous competitor trying to sabotage the score. He simply used his old experience posting paid reviews to get the listing into the top 2000 spots.

Do you think the Shed proves we’re too gullible online, or does it show anyone can create magic if they stop taking things so seriously?

Source: Wikipedia’s article on “The Shed at Dulwich”. The facts are theirs; the words are ours.