Waitress in Melbourne on working holiday who had a plate smashed into her face by a stranger in speaks out

By ASHLEY NICKEL, NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 15:12, 29 April 2026 | Updated: 15:12, 29 April 2026 A waitress who needed emergency dental surgery after a vicious assault by a passerby revealed the attacker told her 'it's your fault'. French backpacker Anais Poupon, 19, had a plate shoved into her face during a shift at cafe La Vallee in Essendon, north Melbourne, about 1pm on Friday. CCTV shows the waitress walked around a corner while holding plates to serve to a table when the woman, walking the other way, almost bumped into her.  The stranger then hit the plate up and into the waitress's face and slapped the other plates to the ground.    'She told me, 'It's your fault',' Ms Poupon said. 'I'm very upset. Why this lady do that? I did nothing.' Ms Poupon also revealed she underwent emergency surgery for one of her front teeth on Tuesday.  La Vallee owner Josh Rabie said the aggressive behaviour made him 'feel sick'. Ms Poupon (above) was attacked while serving tables at La Vallee in Essendon, north Melbourne French backpacker Anais Poupon (left) was attacked by a stranger (right) on Friday afternoon 'She's a lovely girl, she's quiet and it's the last thing you want to happen to anyone,' he said. The Essendon community rallied around the cafe after it shared CCTV of the incident on Tuesday. 'We are beyond shocked at the... behaviour of this grown woman,' La Vallee wrote alongside the clip.  'If you know her please send us a private message. 'This incident led to one of our beautiful staff members chipping their tooth from the plate she pushed into her face. 'We love being part of the community in Essendon and we hope our followers can share, tag and suggest this to local friends so we can get some justice and hold this person accountable.' Thousands of Aussies viewed and shared the short video with many condemning the woman's actions. 'Hope your staff member is okay and hope the woman is caught,' one wrote.  The cafe shared CCTV of the attack on Tuesday in hopes of identifying the woman (above) La Vallee owner Josh Rabie said the attack on Ms Poupon (above) made him 'feel sick' 'Why did no one stop her? Enough just standing by and watching - citizen arrests need to happen more,' another said. Even billionaire Melbourne local Adrian Portelli weighed in one the clip, writing: 'This behaviour needs to be stamped out. It doesn't belong here.'    Several local businesses also offered a hand in helping La Vallee recover from the shocking attack. 'This is disgusting behaviour. I am the owner of Healthy Smiles on Keilor Road, Niddrie, and I am more than happy to fix your staff member's front tooth free of charge,' one wrote. 'This is a cowards act and your lovely waitress shouldn't have to go through this.' Sear Steakhouse commented: 'When healthy smiles gets her teeth sorted, bring her down the road for some steaks with her family on us. Keilor road will stand together.' No charges have been laid over the incident, which Victoria Police is investigating. Daily Mail has contacted La Vallee for comment. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.