A restaurant owner in York has spoken out after another city chef appeared to publicly attack one of his dishes.
Mike Brand owns Clucking Oinks, the fried chicken business with outlets at Spark York and on Castlegate.
To celebrate National Burger Day last week, he dreamed up a one-off special burger. It featured hot fried chicken with a Cinnabon pastry as a bun, with pickles and lashings of ranch dressing.
“It was a one-day special. It’s a bit of fun,” Mike told YorkMix.
“Everyone’s going through tough times at the minute. The idea was to add a bit of joy, to add a bit of fun to the day.”
He posted a picture of the special burger on Instagram. Then he was surprised to see one person in the comments call the burger: “Stupid and horrific”.
“You get people come out with silly comments all the time,” Mike said. “But I thought I recognised his name.
“I flicked onto it, and then noticed it was the head chef from Roots.”
The “stupid and horrific” comment had been left by the account belonging to Will Lockwood, the head chef at the city’s only restaurant with a Michelin star, Roots York on Marygate.
Mike said: “I just thought, this is ridiculous. People in this industry always have to bully one another, thinking they’re better.
“And I just hate bullies. Hate the online abuse stuff. So I just thought I’m not letting this one lie. I’m definitely going to kick up a stink about it.”
He highlighted the comment on the York Banter Facebook page, where lots of people defended him and Clucking Oinks.
Mike even did a special offer, giving free chicken strips to anyone who used the phrase ‘Cluck Roots’ during National Burger Day.
‘Silence is deafening’
Roots York was launched by Tommy Banks following the success of his original restaurant, the Black Swan at Oldstead.
It became York’s first restaurant to be awarded a Michelin star in January 2021.
Tommy appointed Will as head chef later that year, praising his “creativity and flair”. Roots York has been acclaimed by critics and locals alike, and has a 4.5 out of 5 rating on TripAdvisor.
Mike hasn’t had an apology for the comment. “We’ve heard nothing from anyone at Roots. We’ve heard nothing from the head chef, other than he put ‘oops wrong person’. And I don’t believe that for one second.
“Their silence is deafening. If they’re happy for that kind of stuff to go around, they should hang their head in shame.
“Everyone’s entitled to their own opinions. But it’s a bit sad and pathetic that we still get bullies that come out and try and bully the small man and say things like that.”
He’s been very heartened after receiving “loads of support” on social media – including from popular Instagrammer Food Review Club, who has 185K followers
Mike said the negative comment wouldn’t stop him dreaming up future Clucking Oinks specials.
“Not in the slightest! It’ll take a lot more on that to stop us.”
YorkMix has made strenuous efforts to get a comment from Roots York, Tommy and Will, but we have heard nothing back as yet.
