Restaurant gets hammered after throwing out Chef José Andres to make Ivanka Trump more “comfortable”
Earlier today it was revealed that a prominent restaurant in Washington DC threw out Chef José Andres because his mere presence was making Ivanka Trump “uncomfortable.” The blatantly racist move ignited controversy, prompting the restaurant to publicly apologize, and Ivanka to apparently reach out to Andres privately. Although he’s now forgiving them for the incident, the restaurant is getting destroyed across social media – and on Yelp.
The controversy began when Jorge Guajardo, the former Mexican Ambassador to China, tweeted this: “In a new low for Washington, yesterday Chef Jose Andres was asked to leave the Alfalfa dinner after-party at Cafe Milano by its owner, Franco Nuschesse, apparently because his presence made Ivanka Trump uncomfortable.” Although Donald Trump and Chef Andres have had a previous falling out over a restaurant deal, the incident still reeked of simple racism. Andres is Spanish-American and he’s also a prominent activist on behalf of Puerto Rico, which Trump has left in ruins after the hurricane.
Cafe Milano ended up tweeting this public apology to Andres: “You are always welcome at Cafe Milano when we are open and in fact, I will host you and toast to all your successes. I am sorry for the misunderstanding. Last night the restaurant was closed for a private Alfalfa Dinner after party.
Of note, the dinner and after party are different guest lists. Also, Ivanka Trump had no role on determining event attendees.”
That was good enough for Andres, who tweeted this in response: “Thank you Cafe Milano and Franco for the apology. I understand was a ‘misunderstanding.’ Still hard to understand why I was the only person not allowed in! Please people of Washington DC keep supporting a great resturant institution. Now let’s all be friends.” He also added “Thank you Ivanka Trump for reaching out.” However the damage was already done. So many people posted one-star reviews for Cafe Milano on Yelp, its overall rating has dropped to two stars.
