My boyfriend and I stopped by here last night for a glass of wine and a small plate each. I am vegan, my boyfriend is not. I asked our waiter (a French man with dark hair) if the ratatouille was vegan, and he said it was. I ordered that while my boyfriend got the cheese plate.
When we finished our food, my boyfriend had some of his bread left that he wasn't going to eat, so I figured I'd eat it if it was vegan. When our waiter walked by the table I asked him if the bread was vegan. He replied by asking me if I thought the wine was vegan. Obviously I was slightly confused, as this seemed a bit aggressive of a reply, and I hadn't had any issues with this establishment up until this point. I told him yes, I did think it was vegan, and he rolled his eyes and abruptly walked away. When he came back my boyfriend asked the waiter if the wine happened to not be vegan, and he replied with his opinions on veganism by calling it a fad and saying he didn't understand it. He gave a long-winded explanation of his father making wine, and how pesticides are used and thus bugs are killed. I tried explaining some of the reasons behind why people tend to become vegan, and he told me he didn't need to understand it. I told him that feeling so hostile towards something while refusing to try to understand it was ignorant. He frequently raised his voice, was extremely defensive, and came off rather threatening throughout the entire conversation (which keep in mind was in the middle of this café with other guests present, and lasted for about 10 minutes).
This whole scenario was absolutely ridiculous. I have never had a worse experience in a restaurant. This man seemed very miserable and was obviously unhappy with his own life, but attacking a customer in a place where you are employed and being paid to serve customers?? Horrendous. When we paid the check, he said "enjoy your life as a vegan" and turned his back, and that was the end of it.
I wonder if this is the same way staff here treat other dietary restrictions due to allergies/religious beliefs. Whoever is in charge of hiring at this location really needs to look at their hiring criteria and whether or not their current staff are suitable in customer service positions. Food was mediocre, wine was ok, staff were absolutely horrible.
Honestly, I just wanted bread. read more