Celeb chef bans vegans from his restaurant for 'mental health reasons' after receiving complaint from customer
20 June 2023, 23:37
Celebrity chef John Mountain has banned vegans from his restaurant after receiving a bad review.
John Mountain, a chef from the UK who owns the restaurant Fyre said he had decided to ban vegans from his eatery for “mental health reasons”.
"Sadly all vegans are now banned from Fyre (for mental health reasons)," he sad in a Facebook post. “We thank you for your understanding. Xx.”
It was also shared alongside the caption: “Yep. I’m done.”
The restaurant, based in Perth, Australia, is understood to have received a bad review from a vegan customer who had contacted him prior to visiting to check if they served vegan food.
Chef Mountain promised he would cater to her dietary requirements but forgot about his promise when the day of her visit came around.
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“A young girl reached out to me and said she was coming to the restaurant… and asked if there were vegan options,” he told PerthNow.
“It was my only shortfall… I said I would accommodate her, I said we had gnocchi, vegetables… and that was that.”
"Saturday came around and sadly I’d forgotten… I had a private party I had to cater for,” he explained to the outlet.
He also said that his sous chef was upset for “not telling them about the vegan customer”.
But the next day, the vegan customer took to Facebook to make a “personal” complaint about her experience.
“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," she said.
“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.”
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Angered by her response, Chef Mountain said she made the complaint “personal” and even hit back at the complainant.
He said: “Thanks for your negative review… please feel free to share your sh***y 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."
Chef Mountain has lived in Australia for seven years after leaving the UK.
He starred in cooking shows the Great British Menu and Chef Race UK v US.
