The Littleover Lodge Hotel in Derbyshire, U.K.
If there’s one thing more annoying than a militant vegan, it’s a hotel chef who brags on social media that he loves to slip a little meat into his unsuspecting customers’ vegan dishes.
It’s certainly no way to beef up your business. And it’s why Alex Lambert, the former head chef at the Littleover Lodge Hotel in Derby, England, will be munching on mutton sandwiches for the foreseeable future as he stands on the unemployment line — even though he now says he never did what he said he did.
This all began when Lambert, 30, got into a spitting contest with a vegan on Instagram. As reported in The Telegraph, he posted a very old joke that goes, “How do you know if someone is a vegan? Don’t worry, they will tell you.”
“A militant vegan saw this post,” Lambert said, “and began commenting, saying I should go get heart disease and I will be responsible for the death of my daughter by feeding her animal products.
“I lost my temper, which I think is understandable given her comments, and said something completely stupid with the sole intention of pissing her off. That is basically all it was.”
What he told the woman was that "being a vegan is a minority," and that she "should find a better way to spend your time, my personal favourite [sic] is feeding vegans animal products and them not knowing."
To which she replied: "Hope you get caught one day, would love to see that…. Enjoy the heart disease :)"
But that was just the appetizer. The main course was about to play out over a spate of increasingly hostile Instagram comments as vegans around the world took their turn lambasting the chef and the hotel. Many slammed the hotel with bad reviews and demanded a main dish: Lambert’s head, preferably on a platter, au jus.
The three-star hotel suspended Lambert, saying he had spoken “in a heated moment” and that “this practice has never taken place.”
But when the vegans demanded that he should be forced to eat more than just a little crow, the hotel fired him.
“We have investigated all accusations against Mr. Lambert and found no evidence suggesting that any of these practices have taken place within this hotel,” the management said in a statement.
“However, due to the comments made by Mr. Lambert regarding specific dietary requirements the company has decided to terminate his employment which has been done forthwith.”
Lambert’s remarks showed “absolute stupidity,” said Nicholas Crooks, the hotel's general manager.
“We cater to all dietary requirements, we run a proper and professional operation here and we feel as if we've been completely battered by this.”
So … well done, Alex. If nothing else, this will be food for thought.
“I have been a chef for nine years,” Lambert said. “I have never in this time done anything like feeding a vegan animal products or slipped in contaminated food.
“My job has always been my passion and something I have always taken very seriously. It was a stupid comment said out of anger.
“For the record I have no issue with vegans.”
Unfortunately for Lambert, vegans had a big issue with him.
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