Shropshire Star

Shifnal restaurant in vegan comments row shuts down

An Italian restaurant in Shropshire which was caught in a media storm after one of its chefs made sarcastic comments online about meals served to a group of vegans has reportedly closed down.

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Carlini in Shifnal. Photo: Google StreetView.

Carlini Italian Restaurant in Market Place, Shifnal, reportedly closed down towards the end of 2018, and has since had ‘To Let’ signs displayed in the front windows.

The company's sister restaurant, La Famiglia, an Italian pizza restaurant in Albrighton, is also reported to have closed down.

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Both websites for the restaurants have been taken down and neither are taking phone calls, although Carlini's Facebook page is still active.

Laura Goodman

The company made national news in January 2018 when its former chef and co-owner Laura Goodman posted on a Facebook page how a 'pious, judgemental vegan' had gone to bed 'still believing she's a vegan'.

Investigations into the comments were made and Carlini received a flurry of online messages following the posting – its Tripadvisor and Google were also flooded with comments.

The restaurant admitted the comments by Ms Goodman were 'ill-judged' but said they had been misconstrued by online commenters and that no meat was used in any of the dishes.

The jibe came after Ms Goodman created a special vegan menu for a party, only for them to then choose to eat a cheese-based pizza, the restaurant said. Ms Goodman later resigned.

La Famiglia, an artisan pizzeria located on High Street in Albrighton, was opened six months later as the company's attempt at a 'fresh start'.

The company has been unavailable for comment.