Restaurant Chef Responds to Vegan Protestors By Butchering a Deer Leg in Front of Them
A chef at Antler restaurant in Toronto gave vegan protestors a shock on Friday when he brought a deer leg to the window and proceeded to carve it in front of them.
According to BlogTO.com, the restaurant is well-known in the area for serving foie gras and meats that are local to Canada including bison, boar, rabbit, duck and deer. In the video that’s gone viral on Twitter, chef Michael Hunter appears to place the raw meat on the table right by the window and begins breaking it down in front of the protestors.
“To taunt the activists, he’s brought the leg of a recently murdered deer to this dining area,” the person filming the video says.
Vegan protesters were shocked after a #Toronto chef responded to their protest by carving up an animal right in front of them https://t.co/CY0zU0a1By pic.twitter.com/Mj04bnzxVp
— blogTO (@blogTO) March 27, 2018
Marni Jill Ugar, the vegan activist who organized the protest, tells PEOPLE this was her fifth time protesting Antler, and she chose the restaurant to “debunk the myth” that they serve ethical, humane meat.
Ugar also claims that 30 minutes after the incident, Hunter returned to the window to eat the cooked deer leg. “I felt bad, because, I mean, who is the joke on? The deer?” she says. “I don’t see myself as the victim. I see the animal as the victim.”
As the video has made the Internet rounds, some Twitter users have shown their support for the chef and the restaurant.
Antler is one of my fave restaurants. Vegans are free to protest peacefully outside. But Chef Hunter (yes that’s his name) also has the right to carve a deer windowside in his own restaurant.
— bruschetta dortmund (@meridiansour) March 26, 2018
Not all heroes wear capes. Love this Chef.
— Eric Smith (@HeavyE79) March 27, 2018
But others were disappointed with the way Hunter handled the protestors.
Provoking people isn't heroic, he just sank to their level (I don't agree with those activists' methods).
Reasoned discussion would have been heroic.— Philosophical Vegan (@PhiloVegan) March 27, 2018
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Some raised questions about whether or not Hunter was violating food safety standards by carving it in the window on what appears to be a dining table, even though it was on a cutting board. The Toronto health inspectors vowed they would investigate the incident.
Hi Richard, thanks for flagging. Our Public Health Inspectors will be following up with the establishment.
— Toronto PublicHealth (@TOPublicHealth) March 27, 2018
Ugar says the group plan to return to Antler to open up a dialogue about veganism and the protocol of his restaurant.
Antler did not immediately return PEOPLE’s request for comment.
