This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
The chef at Atwater Village's Tam O'Shanter was ousted after a vitriolic online rant against an animal rights activist he told he'd make her bones into stock.The battle over foie gras can get pretty intense, and it's only heated up since the state reversed the ban on the dish earlier this year. Some chefs have even received death threats from animal lovers. Recently, things got pretty heated on a now-deleted restaurant review posted to the Facebook page of a local eatery that serves foie gras,Eater LA reports.
A woman named Kim Socha posted on Facebook her dismay when she visited Terrine—which is named after a type of forcemeat loaf—and found a lot of meat dishes. In particular, she took offense to the restaurant serving foie gras and left without dining. As weird as it seems that it would have surprised her that a restaurant named Terrine served foie gras, it was even more shocking when Mark Kalenderian, the chef at Atwater Village's Tam O'Shanter, got involved in defense of foie gras. Things escalated, and Kalenderian claimed to Eater that he was particularly incensed when a commenter from the U.K. posted a photo of his child in the thread. Kalenderian channeled a little Hannibal Lecter, writing that Socha might end up as a "lamb in his smoker" and that he'd make 'c*nt stock' out of her bones.
Chef Mark Kalenderian at @TamOShanterLA made misogynistic threats against animal rights activist. PLEASE RT! #SHAME pic.twitter.com/zuPZ53vW3b
— 🐺 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐰 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 Ⓥ 🐾 (@ThePawReport) April 3, 2015
The Internet Outrage Machine was soon in full effect. LAist received an email about Kalenderian's comments, and the comments also circulated via social media. Tam O'Shanter got several demands calling for Kalenderian to be fired and it wasn't too long after the chef said he resigned.
Kalenderian has since created a Facebook page called B.A.C.O.N, which stands for 'Because All Creatures Offer Nutrition.' The purpose of the page is to oppose animal rights activists who bully meat eaters because, after all, "someone's gotta be the bad guy in black clothes." Most of the posts are about food, except one that is the lyrics to a Mobb Deep song about plotting. "Rock em to sleep/Make em think the drama is dead/I smile up in your face
Though I'm plottin' instead." Hmm.
We suppose the moral of the story is: if you're a vegetarian, stay away from restaurants named specifically after meat dishes and if you're on the Internet, be nice!
