Restaurant chef calls in police after receiving 'death threats' for boasting of 'spiking' a vegan group's meals as she apologises and her fiancé says she 'probably had too much to drink'

A restaurant chef who boasted about 'spiking' a group of vegan diners with non-vegan food has received death threats after a huge online backlash.

Laura Goodman, who co-owns Carlini restaurant in Shifnal, Shropshire, posted on Facebook how a 'pious, judgmental vegan' had gone to bed 'still believing she's a vegan'.

It led to an angry reaction online, with social media users flooding a Google page for the restaurant with one-star reviews. One commenter even called for Ms Goodman to be prosecuted for assault believing she had deliberately served meat to a vegan.

But Ms Goodman’s fiancé and business partner later apologised for her comments - insisting she had not given anyone any meat. 

Speaking from the eatery today, Mike Gale said the couple had been forced to call in police after receiving death threats when the post went viral. He also suggested that Ms Goodman had 'probably had too much to drink' before posting in the early hours.

The restaurateur – who has been a chef for 26 years – posted her message on the Facebook page ‘The Boring Group’ at 4am on Saturday, prompting a barrage of abuse from many of the members.

Social media users have said that Laura Goodman (pictured) should be charged with assault for spiking the food. She has since received death threats for her post on Facebook


Ms Goodman posted on a Facebook group boasting that a 'pious, judgmental vegan' had gone to bed thinking she was still a vegan after eating at her restaurant

She later claimed that she had 'spiked' the vegan at the Carlini restaurant she co-owns in Shifnal, Shropshire

Mr Gale said his fiancée was so mortified by the reaction that she was 'suicidal' over the scandal.

Giving his version of what happened with the vegan group, Mr Gale said: 'One of them ordered a margarita pizza which is not vegan-friendly.

'One of the waitresses at the end of the meal came down and said: "You know, I think one of that group had a margarita pizza."

'Laura said that if you were a vegan you'd know that mozzarella is not vegan. So, slightly disappointed that they hadn't chosen to have what she'd prepared for them, and amused at the thought that they had had that pizza, she made this flippant remark on Facebook.' 

Ms Goodman said in another post that she had spent hours preparing vegan food for the group. 

In her original posts it was unclear what she had 'spiked' the vegan group with, with many assuming it was meat.

Mr Gale added: 'Since then our world has been turned upside down with death threats, threats of violence, threats of lawsuits from all around the world. It's been global. 

'We've completely shot ourselves in the foot. We now understand that in the vegetarian and vegan world, saying that you've 'spiked' someone's food means that you put meat in it, which isn't the case here.

'I think that the whole storm that has arisen has come from that word "spike".' 

Mr Gale added that Laura had 'probably' had too much to drink before posting in the early hours.

Shropshire Council posted on Twitter saying: 'We have received complaints and we are investigating.'

One Facebook commenter said: 'I hope you didn't do anything on purpose to make her meal non vegan, if so that is disgusting and so out of order, I would be furious with anybody that did that.'

Replying to backlash from both vegans and meat-eaters, she later posted: ‘Actually I should have said “they’re” not a vegan… not “she’s”.

'Started with asking me to telephone them, over Christmas, to discuss the dietary requirements of their guests within a set time frame, and ended with me wondering why I’m explaining this simplistic post to a pious c***.’

The page for the restaurant on Google has received hundreds of reviews, dragging the rating down to just 1.1 stars out of five.

One reviewer said: 'This person who owns a restaurant is boasting about spiking peoples food, unaware that some people with dietary requirements might also be more swayed by this because of allergies. 

One Google reviewer slammed Ms Goodman (pictured) and said: 'It would be the same if someone of a religious background came in and she spiked their food with prohibited substances'


Mike Gale, pictured here with Ms Goodman, said: 'This has all got out of hand. There was absolutely no meat in the dishes. We have received death threats and had all sorts of vitriol thrown at us'


It has since received a barrage of one-star reviews, dragging the rating down to 1.1 stars out of five

'It would be the same if someone of a religious background came in and she spiked their food with prohibited substances.

'I am sure you would agree prohibited is prohibited regardless of the reasoning behind it.'

Local group Telford Vegan Action are planning a demonstration outside the restaurant and have called for it to be shut down. 

Hope Lye, the organiser, said: 'Telford Vegan Action are organising a demonstration against Carlini / Laura Goodman as the actions of spiking a vegan is so very wrong. 

'What right did Laura Goodman feel she have the right to place animal products in a vegan dish then go on social media and boast about it? 

'More people are going vegan and many more are participating in the Veganuary campaign and we will be highlighting this outside Carlini in the hope more people go vegan.'

A Tweet calling for people to email, call, or leave a negative review has also racked up hundreds of retweets and likes.  

One reply to the Tweet said: 'It's literally assault upon a person.'

Police were spotted leaving the Carlini restaurant earlier today


A Tweet calling for people to email, call, or leave a negative review has also racked up hundreds of retweets and likes 


Local group Telford Vegan Action are planning a demonstration outside the restaurant (pictured) and have called for it to be shut down

Another said: 'This seems worthy of a lawsuit!' 

A spokesperson for Carlini Italian restaurant said: 'We appreciate the outrage Laura’s ill-judged comment on social media has caused and would like to apologise for what it insinuated.

'She had spent a lot of time designing a special vegan menu for a party, who then decided to choose something from the existing menu – one meal of which was a cheese-based pizza, which isn’t vegan friendly. 

'This is what she meant by the Facebook comment - in no way does this excuse the comment and we totally understand the anger it has subsequently caused.

'However, we want to assure everyone that the meals were all prepared to our usual high standards and in accordance with the Food Standards Agency. No meat was used in any of the dishes.

'We are passionate about creating high quality food and all of our chefs are trained to understand the different dietary requirements of our customers, many of whom are vegetarian and/or increasingly vegan.' 

A spokesman for Shropshire Council’s regulatory services department said: 'We have received complaints in relation to this matter and are currently investigating. We’re therefore unable to comment further at this time.'

The restaurant was closed this morning (pictured left) with no answer at Carlini (right)