Melbourne cafe La Vallee Essendon attack: Waitress chipped tooth on CCTV as woman throws plate

A Melbourne cafe has spoken out on social media after a staff member had her teeth knocked out in an apparently unprovoked attack.

La Vallee, in Essendon, shared CCTV footage online on Tuesday showing the moment a woman attacked a waitress just before 1pm on Friday.

In the footage, the woman, wearing a black sweater, jeans and oversized sunglasses, appears to suddenly grab the plates from her hands as she walks past staff carrying multiple plates.

The force of the impact caused the plates to hit the waiter’s face and break his tooth, while the woman continued walking calmly on the street.

“We are beyond shocked by the disgusting behavior of this adult woman,” staff wrote on Tuesday.

“If you know him please send us a private message, we need help identifying this person.

“This incident led to one of our lovely employees BREAKING HIS TOOTH when a plate was pushed into his face.

“We love being part of the community in Essendon and hope our followers can share, tag and recommend this to local friends so we can deliver some justice AND hold this person accountable.”

The images sparked widespread outrage online, with commenters condemning the woman’s actions.

“This behavior needs to be eliminated. It doesn’t belong here,” one wrote.

“Absolutely shocking behavior, so sad to see,” another person commented.

A third added: “He’s definitely not well. I hope someone recognizes him.”

Amid the backlash, some members of the community offered support, including a Brazilian jiu-jitsu studio that offered a “free 12-month self-defense membership” and a local dentist who volunteered to repair the damage for free.

“We go there regularly and they are absolutely shocked. I absolutely appreciate the dentist who offered to fix the staff’s tooth for free. What a beautiful and kind gesture,” one woman wrote.