A dish best not served

A chef from Shropshire, England has resigned following a Facebook post bragging about “spiking” a vegan diner, according to the Guardian.

Laura Goodman, coowner and head chef of Carlini, felt the wrath of the internet after posting several incriminating messages in The Boring Group on the social network. “Pious, judgmental vegan (who I spent all day cooking for) has gone to bed, still believing she’s a vegan,” she wrote in one message. Adding: “Spiked a vegan a few hours ago.”

Understandably. Goodman’s comments induced outrage online. Vegans and non-vegans alike inundated Carlini’s TripAdvisor and Google pages with disparaging reviews. Due to the volume of complaints, the restaurant’s Facebook page has been disabled, the Guardian reports. Meanwhile, TripAdvisor has “temporarily suspended publishing new reviews” for Carlini due to “an influx of review submissions that do not describe first-hand experience.”

At the time of writing, Carlini’s Google rating had plummeted to 2.1 stars. “How this restaurant can survive when diners cannot be sure what they are being served from the Kitchen must be in serious doubt,” Christopher Hulse wrote in his one-star Google review.

Michael Gale, Carlini co-owner and Goodman’s fiancé, told the Guardian that their “world has been turned upside down.” In addition to the torrent of negative reviews, he reportedly said that they have received death threats and warnings of legal action.

The restaurant released a statement, which read: “Laura Goodman has today tendered her resignation from Carlini and the board of directors are currently considering their options. Whilst this process is being completed, Laura will not be working at either of the restaurants, which will reopen later this week. As part of a preplanned recruitment drive, Carlini is also recruiting for an additional head chef to work across both its restaurants in Shropshire.”

Goodman added: “I am really deeply sorry. There were no meat products added to the dishes.”