Chef 'received death threats' over 'ill-advised' claim she had 'spiked a vegan's meal' at Shropshire restaurant

The chef appeared to write on Facebook: 'Pious, judgmental vegan has gone to bed still believing she’s a vegan'
A chef at Carlini, in Shropshire, claimed to have spiked a vegan's meal
Trip Advisor
Fiona Simpson2 January 2018

An investigation has been launched after a chef claimed to have “spiked a vegan” at a restaurant in Shropshire.

Laura Goodman, who is believed to co-own Italian restaurants Carlini, in Shifnal and Albrighton, said in a post on the social media site that a “pious, judgmental vegan has gone to bed still believing she’s a vegan”.

She wrote on a Facebook page called The Boring Group: “Pious, judgmental vegan (who I spent all day cooking for) has gone to bed believing she is still a vegan.”

It came hours after the chef posted on the same page: “Spiked a vegan a few hours ago”.

Laura Goodman claimed to have spiked a vegan's meal at a restaurant in Shropshire
Facebook

The message sparked a furious backlash with many threatening to boycott the restaurant on online review sites.

One person replied: “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.”

The chef later responded to critics, adding: “Actually I should have said “they’re” not a vegan… not “she’s”.

The chef shared the message on Facebook
Facebook

“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***.”

However, speaking to the Mirror, Ms Goodman’s partner Mike Gale said the incident had been a “misunderstanding”.

He said his partner had “spent hours” preparing a special vegan and vegetarian menu for a group at the restaurant’s Albrighton branch.

However, he claimed when they arrived one of the vegans ordered a Margherita pizza, topped with mozzarella.

He told the Mirror: “The comments were made when (Laura) was very tired and had a few drinks at the end of a 72-hour week - the busiest week of the year.

“It was a bad choice of words. It was a mistake. We would never feed any vegetarian or vegan meat."

The post sparked backlash
Facebook

He added that the chef was “devastated” about the misunderstanding and had even received death threats.

He said: “This has all got out of hand. There was absolutely no meat in the dishes. We have received death threats and all sorts of vitriol thrown at us."

A spokesperson for Carlini Italian restaurant told the Daily Mail: 'We appreciate the outrage Laura’s ill-judged comment on social media has caused and would like to apologise for what it insinuated.

“She had spent a lot of time designing a special vegan menu for a party, who then decided to choose something from the existing menu – one meal of which was a cheese-based pizza, which isn’t vegan friendly.

“This is what she meant by the Facebook comment - in no way does this excuse the comment and we totally understand the anger it has subsequently caused.

“However, we want to assure everyone that the meals were all prepared to our usual high standards and in accordance with the Food Standards Agency. No meat was used in any of the dishes.

“We are passionate about creating high quality food and all of our chefs are trained to understand the different dietary requirements of our customers, many of whom are vegetarian and/or increasingly vegan.”

A review of the restaurant posted on Google read: “Don’t risk eating here. The chef boasts about giving unsuitable food to diners. If you have any allergies, or just want to know the chef is honest and cares about their dishes. Steer well clear.”

A second person added: “Saw a post of the chef’s social media boast of feeding non vegan food to vegans. Would they spike a teetotaller with alcohol or serve omnivores contaminated meat?”

Another reviewer wrote: “’Chef’ obviously doesn’t care about food contamination. Hope she gets investigated fully. If she gets shut down, too bad.”

A spokesman for Shropshire Council’s regulatory service told the Standard: “We have received complaints in relation to this matter and are currently investigating. We’re therefore unable to comment further at this time.”

The Standard has reached out to Carlini and Laura Goodman for comment.

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