A chef and co-owner of a hunting-themed restaurant has had enough of vegan protesters.
A Global News report discussed a situation that went down at Antler restaurant in Toronto, Ontario, which has been the subject of four vegan protests now. Protesters held signs saying ‘Murder’ and ‘Animals are not ours to use’ outside the restaurant. While the restaurant introduced a vegan dish thanks to one of the organized protests, the protesters came back to object to the serving of ‘foie gras’, a dish that has come under controversy for the inhumane treatment of ducks.
About an hour into the protest, Chef and co-owner Michael Hunter came to the front window, set down a cutting board and started carving a raw leg of deer.
Toronto restaurant owner Peacefully engages with vegan protesters by offering vegan-friendly meals and inviting the Organizer to go foraging with him via /r/UpliftingNews https://t.co/r8ugyjfNow pic.twitter.com/my9f1P1ShH
— UPBEAT + (@upbeatstories) March 29, 2018
A video recording from the protesters showed the chef cutting up the leg of a deer and putting it in a metal bin. Police officers showed up and appeared to talk to the chef, who continued on his merry way of carving the deer leg.
After finishing cutting up the deer, Hunter returned with his gear to the back kitchen and it seemed like that was the end of the process. But it didn’t take long for Hunter to come back to the storefront; this time, he brought out a large cut of cooked meat and began dining on it in front of the protesters. It is assumed that the meat he was eating was the deer he had just cut up.
Watch this chef carve up a deer and eat it in front of vegan protesters https://t.co/zb7GwXYAtX pic.twitter.com/y7KQtZFfDm
— SICK CHIRPSE (@SickChirpse) March 28, 2018
“Look in the window. Look at Michael Hunter. That deer was treated like a joke. That deer was an innocent animal who did not want to die.” wrote protest organizer Marni Jill Ugar in a Facebook post that has since been taken down, but was reported by blogTO.
The story quickly went viral and people took to Twitter to voice their opinions on the altercation, with support coming from both sides:
Antler is one of my fave restaurants. Vegans are free to protest peacefully outside. But Chef Hunter (yes that’s his name) also has the right to carve a deer windowside in his own restaurant.
— bruschetta dortmund (@meridiansour) March 26, 2018
Were the protesters in the wrong? Did the chef take it too far? There’s a lot of fighting on both sides but what’s important is that it’s generating good discussion on food ethics and peaceful protests.
