Despite our numerous fundraisers, volunteer chefs and local restaurants dedicated to helping the Gulf, one ignorant sign at the Taste of Chicago seems to have set off one food writer in New Orleans. The sign in question was from the relatively unknown Oak Street Beach Cafe, which read, "Our lobster & shrimp are not from the Gulf Coast." A photo of the sign was sent to food writer Lorin Gaudin, a Chicago native currently living in New Orleans. Not a particularly flattering slogan that is counterproductive to the Gulf fishing industry, but now the entire city of Chicago must bear the shame!
"I was at the very first Taste of Chicago when Jane Byrne was Mayor. I am sick, just sick about that photo. Disgraceful," Gaudin tells Huffington Post.
Gaudin's tweets of outrage have included:
"Dear #Chicago: I no longer love you. How could you be so stupid? LA seafood is safe & delicious. You should be ashamed #tasteofchicago"
"Oak Street Beach Cafe is culprit, sign-hanging beasts. An apology from them & City to Louisiana & seafood industry a MUST! #tasteofchicago"
Given that global hatred seems to be unaminously focused on BP, not New Orleans, and that many local restaurants continue to serve Gulf seafood, Gaudin's resentment towards the city of Chicago is baffling. Enough so that the Huffington Post article has spawned a debate, not about Chicago, but whether they should eat seafood from the Gulf. Wrapped up in endless reports of city corruption, violence, and state debt, we're not particularly surprised by the lack of uproar about a sign -- Chicagoans have bigger fish to fry. [Huff Po]
