Veganism is becoming more and more popular these days. The reasons are various, starting with animal welfare, health and also due to the environmental impact. So it is not a surprise that various arguments between people with different food preferences occur more often.
Probably you’ve come across quite a few situations where vegans are disappointed with the variety of plant-based foods they find in restaurants. Some of them share their anger online with the audience or write a bad review about unfulfilled expectations and others discuss it with friends or family. And there is nothing wrong with all of that, except probably when you come to meat-oriented restaurants.
Celebrity chef drastically bans all vegans from his restaurant
Image credits: FYRE
Australian celebrity chef John Mountain has been going viral for a few days after drastically banning all vegans from his restaurant. The UK-born chef runs his restaurant called ‘Fyre’ in Conolly.
Recently the chef posted a statement on Facebook that “Sadly all vegans are now banned from Fyre for mental health reasons. We thank you for your understanding. xx”
Mountain told PerthNow that a heated complaint from a customer that turned personal was what sparked this decision.
The decision was made after a negative review from a vegan woman that felt personal to the chef
Image credits: FYRE
John Mountain mentioned that a young girl reached out to him asking about vegan options in the restaurant. “It was my only shortfall… I said I would accommodate her, I said we had gnocchi, vegetables… and that was that.” However, on the same day, he had a private dinner party and forgot about her.
According to PerthNow, the woman later wrote a complaint via direct Facebook message: “My only option was the vegetable dish… it was okay but not that filling… and I was shocked to see it was $32. I think it’s incredibly important nowadays that restaurants can accommodate everyone and to not be able to have actual plant-based meals shows your shortcomings as a chef.”
“I hope to see some improvements in your menu as I have lived in Connolly for quite some time and have seen many restaurants come and go from that building and none of them last,” she said.
The chef mentioned that people know what they are getting coming to his restaurant as he had a recipe book with pork recipes
Image credits: FYRE
The chef told 7NEWS.com.au that he is done with vegans. “I once wrote and sold a book called Pig which had pork recipes. People know what they’re getting from me. I understand where vegans are coming from but my job is to make food taste as good as I can and I can’t always cater to everybody’s dietary requirements.”
Also, the restaurant dropped from 4.2 stars to 2.8 overnight. However, later on, it picked back up to 4.3 stars.
Image credits: FYRE
The Facebook post received various different comments from folks, some supporting the idea, but some were also shaming. “Imagine not being able to cook a vegetable dish and then blaming a vegan,” one user wrote. Another added: “Banning vegans for 'mental health reasons.' You're both childish and ignorant.”
On the other side, there were many comments like: “Love it. Your restaurant, your rules. Simple as that.” Another person wrote: “Good on you, stand up for what you worked so hard for.” “Good on you Chef. Keep making the food you love. Your menu. Your choice,” fan commented.
Also, while this chef decided to ban vegans, check out the story where a landlord prohibited cooking meat and fish in a $5,750-a-month Brooklyn apartment.
Folks in the comments share different opinions on the whole situation
