We all hate being shortchanged, especially when it comes to food. Expecting seven chicken wings and getting five is one thing, but completely changing an order or substituting food without a person knowing crosses one too many lines, and could even be considered fraud or assault to some.
This way of thinking has set social media into a frenzy recently, after a chef sparked some furious backlash after boasting about ‘spiking’ a group of vegan diners with non-vegan food. A rookie mistake, considering what social media has become over the years.
Laura Goodman, who co-owns Carlini restaurant in Shifnal in Shropshire in the UK, posted on Facebook how a “pious, judgemental vegan” had gone to bed “still believing she’s a vegan.” Like she was her own Disney movie villain.
The restaurateur posted her message on the Facebook page “The Boring Group” at 4am on Saturday, prompting a barrage of abuse from many of the members. The message read “Pious, judgemental vegan (who I spent all day cooking for) has gone to bed, still believing she’s a vegan.”
It’s safe to say Laura got a reaction that she definitely was not expecting. One user said, “I hope you didn’t do anything on purpose to make her meal non vegan, if so that is disgusting and so out of order, I would be furious with anybody that did that.”
Laura explains her reasoning, saying the customer “started with asking me to telephone them, over Christmas, to discuss the dietary requirements of their guests within a set time frame, and ended with me wondering why I’m explaining this simplistic post to a pious c***.” Later, she corrected herself, saying, “Actually, I should have said ‘they’re” not a vegan… not ‘she’s.'”
The page for the restaurant on Google has received hundreds of poor reviews, dragging the rating down to just 1.1 stars out of five. One of the one starers wrote: “This person who owns a restaurant is boasting about spiking peoples food, unaware that some people with dietary requirements might also be more swayed by this because of allergies.”
Another user wrote that “it would be the same if someone of a religious background came in and she spiked their food with prohibited substances,” with another adding: “I am sure you would agree prohibited is prohibited regardless of the reasoning behind it.”
A local group called Telford Vegan Action is planning a demonstration outside the restaurant, and have called for it to be shut down. The organiser, Hope Lye, said: “Telford Vegan Action are organising a demonstration against Carlini / Laura Goodman as the actions of spiking a vegan is so very wrong.”
Lye continues: “What right did Laura Goodman feel she have the right to place animal products in a vegan dish then go on social media and boast about it? More people are going vegan and many more are participating in the Veganuary campaign and we will be highlighting this outside Carlini in the hope more people go vegan.”
Since this, a tweet calling for people to email, call, or leave a negative review has also racked hundreds of retweets and likes. One reply to the tweet said “It’s literally assault upon a person.” and another said “This seems worthy of a lawsuit!” Whatever happens to Laura, I’m sure she’s learnt to keep her ill intentions off of social media.