Vegans have been banned from a restaurant in Australia after a bad review angered the head chef.
A customer complaint sparked an online reviewing war between meat-eaters and those who follow a plant-based diet.
In a post on Facebook, UK-born celebrity chef John Mountain – who has appeared on shows such as Great British Menu and Chef Race UK v US – shared a statement that read: “Sadly all vegans are now banned from Fyre for mental health reasons. We thank you for your understanding.”
Fyre is the restaurant that Mountain runs in Connolly, a northern suburb of Perth, Australia.
Explaining the drastic decision, he said: “A young girl reached out to me and said she was coming to the restaurant and asked if there were vegan options.
“It was my only shortfall. I said I would accommodate her, I said we had gnocchi, vegetables… and that was that.”
But when the Saturday came around and she turned up, the chef had forgotten about her request due to a private party Mountain had been busy catering for.
This led to his sous chef fuming at him for “not telling them about the vegan customer.”
The only vegan option the diner had was the “vegetable dish” which she described in an online complaint as “okay but not that filling” What’s more, it set her back $32, PerthNow reports.
Her complaint continued: “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.
“If you don’t get with the times, I don’t hold out faith that your restaurant will be the one that does.”
The Mountain didn’t take her criticism very well…
“As for vegans/vegetarians being a very low minority, especially in the northern burbs’ I try to accommodate everyone else.
“Thanks for your negative review… please feel free to share your s**tty experience and I look forward to not seeing you again.
“How very childish. You and all your vegan mates can all go and enjoy your dishes in another venue. You are now banned.”
In response to another unhappy customer on Google reviews, Mountain wrote: “If you beautiful vegans want to join together and slag off my business then good luck, keep going, let’s see what my customers think.
“And from now on ALL Vegans are now banned from my restaurant. Thank you for your disgusting review and please enjoy the Currambine. Xx”
This prompted a reviewing war between meat-eaters and vegans who either wholeheartedly agreed with the restaurant, and therefore rated it five stars, or passionately disagreed with Mountain’s stance, and gave Fyre one star.
According to PerthNow, the negative reviews have damaged the business.
Mountain has lived in Australia for seven years after arriving from Britain where he was a celebrity chef who shared an agent with kitchen superstar Jamie Oliver.
