Vegan restaurant owners anger patrons by killing farm animals
VACAVILLE, Calif. -- The owners of two premier vegan restaurants in California have angered some patrons after revealing that they have slaughtered animals and eaten meat at their Vacaville farm, CBS San Francisco reports.
Matthew Engelhart and his wife own the vegan restaurants Cafe Gratitude in Los Angeles and Gracias Madre in San Francisco.
One patron took to YouTube to express her anger with the Engelharts, saying "It turns out ... all of the money that I've spent on your company is being pumped into a farm killing animals. I'm so heartbroken."
The Engelharts weren't home at Be Love Farm in Vacaville Thursday, but in a blog post a little over a year ago, Matthew Engelhart reported that he just recently began to realize that farm animals keep farmland from turning to desert. So he decided to get some cows and some sheep.
He said he has slaughtered some of the cows for food.
Matthew posted a photo of himself eating his first hamburger in 40 years.
Now some in the vegan community say they feel betrayed.
The Hollywood Reporter reports the couple has even received death threats.
There are now negative Yelp reviews, a Facebook boycott group and a live protest is planned at one of the restaurants in Los Angeles later this week.
Matthew Engelhart went on to tell the Hollywood Reporter that the "mob mentality" has gotten "crazy" and that he should be able to change his mind.
"And I never even told them what my mind was. All I told them was it's a vegan restaurant and it still is. And it always will be!" he said.