The Family Foundation of Virginia, a conservative Christian advocacy group, was recently removed from a famous TV chef’s restaurant reservation list due to their political and religious beliefs. Victoria Cobb, the president of the group, reported that just 90 minutes before the reservation, they were contacted by the restaurant and informed they were no longer welcome to dine there.
On November 30, the Family Foundation of Virginia had a reservation for about 20 people at a German-themed restaurant called Metzger Bar and Butchery in Richmond, Virginia. This restaurant is co-owned by TV chef Brittanny Anderson, who is known for the shows ‘Top Chef,’ and ‘Chopped.’
When canceling the group’s reservation, the restaurant said that it was due to their anti-abortion stance and their rejection of gay marriage. Metzger Bar and Butchery later posted a statement about the cancellation on its Instagram, saying,
“We have always refused service to anyone for making our staff uncomfortable or unsafe… All of our staff are people with rights who deserve dignity and a safe work environment.”
The restaurant added that it “has always prided itself on being an inclusive environment for people to dine in.”
It seems that the restaurant leadership touts its inclusivity towards all groups of people unless, of course, they are Christians.
In a blog post for The Family Foundation, Cobb wrote about the denial of service that she and her group experienced. “Welcome to the double standard of the left,” she wrote, “where some believe Jack Phillips must be forced to create a wedding cake as part of the celebration of a same-sex ceremony but any business should be able to deny basic goods and services to those who hold biblical values around marriage.”
Cobb also spoke about the incident on Fox News’ The Faulkner Focus on Wednesday.
“We were certainly shocked that this happened,” Cobb said. “It does feel a bit like ‘no Christians can eat here.'”
“Restaurants are not permitted to discriminate,” she continued, “even if their employees are discriminatory.”
Cobb added,
“Americans don’t wanna hear that we’re at the point where we’re so divided on things like faith and our views on issues that we get to the point where we’re eating in different restaurants. That’s not America. That’s not the freedom that we love.”
