No – the customer isn’t always right! That has probably saved you some time, but if you want to hear the rationale and thinking behind it, then feel free to read on.
Recently, someone I’m proud to call a friend made the news. Not just locally or nationally, but internationally. His name is John Mountain, and he’s the Chef Owner of Fyre Restaurant in Perth, Australia.
John Mountain & Fyre: Setting the scene
Johnny appeared in series 5 of the Great British Menu. Then, the unimaginable happened, and something snapped inside him for whatever reason. Johnny stormed off the set; needless to say, social media went wild.
He approached me about writing a guest blog on my site, ChefHermes.com. The post titled “Depression by Johnny Mountain” went on to describe his mental state and his physical reaction in quite graphic and emotional detail. It touched many within the hospitality sector with the brutal rawness that was all too familiar to many.
It kickstarted the debate. The Caterer started a mental health campaign a month or so later, and no doubt planted the seed for endeavours such as the Burnt Chef Project.
The Present: Fyre Restaurant & Bar
Fast forward eleven years… And John Mountain has made the headlines again:
“Celebrity chef bans vegans after dispute over a dish” – The Times
“Why this celebrity chef banned vegans from his restaurant: ‘They can f–k off’” – New York Post
“Food fight! Vegans and meat-eaters come to blows – again” – The Guardian
“Vegan says restaurant ban same as excluding ‘Muslims or women’” – News.com.au
“‘Completely tired of vegans,’ celebrity chef defends controversial restaurant decision” – CNN
The long and short of the situation is that John had failed to communicate a customer’s dietary requirements to his Sous chef (he acknowledges his error) – It doesn’t matter what environment you work in, or to what standard, where humans are involved, the margin for error will increase.
Then the situation escalates
But the customer took their genuine complaint and made it personal, saying:
“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.”
Here’s the problem with that approach – It comes across as entitled, as does the well-known activist Tash Peterson, who likened Fyre’s ban on vegans to:
And:
“He’s obviously quite triggered by veganism, and I think it may be a defence mechanism for his own guilt.”
Who is triggered?
Yeah, it really isn’t like that at all. There is a reason Anthony Bourdain once said:
– Right now, this tiny minority is more vocal, and some with a sense of entitlement.
The nuts and bolts of it.
So why am I writing about this? After all, I’m just over 400 words in with no explanation.
People like John Mountain & Fyre, and I start our own businesses, is because we have a belief and a perception of how something should be done and how to achieve it.
We didn’t take the financial risks we have for some attention seeker to dictate how we should run our businesses.
If a potential client comes to me and looks to hire QED for their website but specifies that we use Squarespace or Wix, then we stop the project at that point. I’ve used WordPress for 15 years and Elementor for 2, for good reason. Having no formal qualifications in website design, I’m as close as you can come to being self-taught.
I’d never proclaim to be such a thing because there are thousands of resources and people who have helped me get to where I am today.
And that’s the point!
Just because you want a specific item or service doesn’t mean you should be able to get it from wherever you want. There are two very good reasons for this:
If you are vegan, then go to a vegan restaurant. Why would you want to fund a restaurant that clearly doesn’t share your beliefs and ethics?
You will get better, more knowledgeable service, and by definition, a better product.
Now, this may come across as either brutal advice or common sense – after all, why would you try to force a round peg into a square hole?
