A hotel chef in England is out of a job after casually remarking that he loves sneaking animal products into unsuspecting vegan customers’ dishes. It seems Alex Lambert, formerly head chef at Littleover Lodge Hotel in Derby, got sucked into an argument with a meat-abstaining Instagrammer. He told her that “being a vegan is a minority,” then advised her to “find a better way to spend your time” since “my personal favourite is feeding vegans animal products and them not knowing.” It took all of a hot second for angry commenters to take over Littleover Lodge’s Facebook page and demand Lambert be fired.
He tells The Telegraph the feud started after he posted the age-old joke about how to tell when somebody’s vegan (“Don’t worry, they will tell you”), and he doesn’t appear too remorseful about making the comment:
“A militant vegan saw this post 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 p—ing her off. That is basically all it was.
The hotel briefly tried suspending him, arguing the remark was made “in a heated moment” and that “this practice has never taken place.” But that “disciplinary procedure” didn’t stop calls to boycott the hotel, and angry groups eventually started setting up shop in the lobby to protest. That sent a pretty clear message to management, which rebranded Lambert’s post as “absolute stupidity” and decided his days as head chef were done.
Also, as it happens, just this morning the hotel announced “new vegan meals and more healthy options” would be joining the menu very, very soon:
