A two-star Michelin chef in Seoul's ritzy Gangnam neighborhood is facing jail time for sprinkling dried ants on sorbet.

As reported by The Guardian last week:

Prosecutors in South Korea have asked a court to sentence the owner of a Michelin-starred restaurant to one year in prison for serving a dessert topped with ants, an insect not approved for consumption under local food safety law.

The request, made on Monday, also sought a 20m won [$13,826.50] fine for the company that runs the restaurant, Yonhap news agency reported.

The restaurant's owner and the company were indicted on charges of violating the country's Food Sanitation Act.

Don't be tempted to think this is South Korea standing up to the "Eat Ze Bugs" mantra.

There are lots of bugs on the menu in South Korea, including grasshoppers, mealworms, and silkworm pupae.

But not ants!

In court, the battle raged over the exact number of ants eaten:

Prosecutors allege the restaurant imported dried ants from the US and Thailand from 2021 and served them on dishes for around four years, selling the ant-topped dessert roughly 12,200 times for total revenue of about 120m won (£60,647). Prosecutors estimated about 49,000 ants were used in total.

The restaurant disputed that figure in court, arguing that only about 60% of customers accepted the ant topping when offered, meaning the prosecution's estimate, based on all customers, was too high.

The restaurant, Evett, was founded by Australian chef Joseph Lidgerwood, who appeared on Netflix's Culinary Class Wars.

The defense is basing their case on the fact that the chef was trained in the U.S. and Europe. How could he possibly have known that one shouldn't put bugs on sorbet??

The verdict and sentencing are scheduled for September 2.

In my personal opinion, the so-called chef ought to have his fine doubled for serving sorbet at all.

Shout out to Not the Bee user @drstrangelove for the heads-up about this story.