As is so often the case with hastily posted outpourings of vitriol on Facebook, the chef at the Boston restaurant who called an unhappy customer “fat” and said she must enjoy vomit if she knows what it tastes like in order to compare his food to the substance, has apologized. Or rather, someone has apologized on the restaurant’s Facebook page.

Even after the initial exchange we reported on from Eater.com yesterday, it seemed the hatefest continued even after the first posts had been deleted, with the chef adding on another Facebook post:

“I find you as vomitus as your pallet , and I am sorry if you are too familiar and acclimated with food that cones out of a can , such as the pumpkin pie.” As well as, “And again , a good new years resolution judging from your fat face would be to give up the pie Sweet pea Xo”

Charming, no? Infinitely more charming (and grammatically correct) was the apology post that ended up on the restaurant’s Facebook page calling a ceasefire:

Last night a disappointed customer aired her concerns here rather than telling us in the restaurant. I must first apologize for my comments. They were not in the spirit of [the restaurant], and nor do I wish for them to reflect on the hard work of my staff and their commitment towards hospitality. I am sorry.

The truth is, I overreacted. While we feel that if a guest is dissatisfied, they should bring it to our attention immediately, there is no excuse for name-calling and foul language. I was wrong.

My hope is that each person who walks through our door has a wonderful dinner & service, but I also hope each person feels comfortable enough to let us know if they are not having this experience. Although, my comments did not reflect this, I truly respect and acknowledge the importance of feedback, good and bad.

Now, I aim to move forward and focus on delivering the best experience possible for our diners. I hope you will come in and let us show you our best.

Public Relations professionals are a boon, after all, and clearly something had to be done to put this fire out.

Eater also received a comment from a woman purporting to be the customer in question, claiming that everything is totally cool now between her and the chef. She writes:

It’s Me!! I am posting to let everyone know that Mark and I spoke at length about our recent Facebook smack down. He was right to say that if I was truly not happy with my meal I should of made a bigger fuss about it at the time it happened. He felt like there was nothing that could be fixed once we left [the restaurant]. He was very sincere and was the first to make amends. We both have apologized for our words and we are now FB friends! He offered me a make up meal and I will gladly take him up on his offer. He seems like a really nice guy and is very passionate about food! Ya got to love him for that. So all of you that have made comments good or bad I would strongly recommend checking out [the restaurant] . You might want to make reservation weeks in advance because as the saying goes, even bad publicity is good!

If there wasn’t such a stark contrast between the chef’s original posts and “his” later apology, we might be inclined to think as several other Facebook commenters do, that this whole thing smells of a set-up. All’s well that ends well though, right?

*Thanks for the tip, Christine!

(Chef) and His Critic Are Now Facebook Friends [Eater Boston]

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