Salem’s Kitchen Conclusion received violent reactions after the video of the confrontation with the vaccine
The Epilogue Kitchen of Salem received a slew of online harassment over the weekend after a video circulated online of author Dr. Naomi Wolf confronting restaurant staff about checking customers’ vaccine cards.
Jonathan Jones, owner of Epilogue Kitchen and James Beard Foundation nominated chef, has had a COVID-19 vaccine card screening requirement for in-house dinner since vaccines became available to the public in December 2020. Customers who were not fully vaccinated or who declined to attend their tickets can dine at outdoors or dining outside.
While Jones has said he has received hate and harassment in the past for having this requirement, he said he described this latest wave of responses as “unmixed” and cited Wolfe as the reason.
“That’s more extreme, brutal, violent — and there’s a lot of joy,” Jones said. “(These online attackers) relish the idea that they’re hurting someone, and most of them aren’t completely shy and call real phone numbers and their names, saying terrible things.”
Wolf did not respond to voicemails and emails in the Statesman Journal seeking comment.
Wolf is the author of the feminist book The Beauty Myth, and in recent years has gained notoriety for sharing unfounded claims about a COVID-19 vaccine.
In the video taken by Wolf, she encounters an Epilogue Kitchen employee at the door. Clips of it have been posted on Twitter, but not from Wolf’s account, since she was banned from the platform for promoting anti-purge misinformation in 2021.
Video contents
In a clip posted on social media, a female Epilogue employee explains to Wolf about Salem’s mandate to vaccinate, while Wolfe responds that she “shares that (she) does not believe in discrimination anywhere for any reason.”
The employee, who is black, commented on the ridicule of Wolfe’s discriminatory statement.
The two continue to move back and forth, with Wolf insisting it was discrimination while the employee concluded the exchange by asking Wolf to “give clients within their privacy” and leave.
Wolf’s phone camera rotates around the employee to show the rest of the restaurant’s facade, including the “No Place for Hate” poster and other signage. The employee replies in the video that she is not recording individuals, but “I’m in a public place and messaging, (so I’m) recording this moment.”
Jones said that while filming the first clip, he was going back to the restaurant. A second clip shows Jones’ interaction with Wolf, beginning by asking Jones to repeat what he said before recording.
“You’re never allowed to be in that space again, you’re officially Dh86,” Jones told her in the video.
Wolf asks what the meaning is, and Jones explains that it means she’s not allowed in the building. While Wolf asks why she’s 86, Jones says the reason is how she interacts with his employee. She responded that she “spoke very tactfully” with his staff and cut short her explanation to repeat that she had been banned and would be reported in the future for trespassing.
Jones is seen walking to the front of his restaurant and sitting on one of the benches, where he asks Wolf if he would like to “talk about (what conspired) constructively”. He refused, using an expletive and saying he would sit in front of the restaurant “until you go”.
Wolf replied that she would have dinner nearby, as she had a previous reservation. Jones gets up from the seat and says he will tell the owner of the restaurant what happened.
Reviews attack policy and personnel
Jones updated his social media followers over the weekend about the harassment he received after the video interaction. He posted pictures of their phone numbers and names, videos of phone interactions, rude messages from other Instagram users, reservations made for the restaurant with fake and obscene names, and screenshots of new negative comments posted on Google, Yelp and Facebook.
Jones said he had to remove the restaurant reviews section on their Facebook page because ratings were dropping as individuals left reviews attacking Jones’ decision to check the vaccine card and make racist statements. The reviews section was removed at around 10am on July 4th.
Attacks and fake reviews have been flooding Epilogue’s Yelp and Google trade pages throughout the weekend as well. While Jones was able to successfully reach out to Yelp to suspend new comments from going up over the weekend, he said he would try to get to Google after the weekend.
According to Statesman, as of 5 p.m. on July 4, the restaurant has received more than 150 new 1-star reviews on Google’s business page regarding video circulation.
Six individual reviews explicitly refer to Wolff’s video and issue statements of disdain for being “discriminated against” for writing the review. Many state primarily that they are angry enough to write a review because of vaccine card screening requirements, while others add in microaggressions in reference to black staff, the restaurant’s support for the Black Lives Matter movement and Jones’ appearance and behavior.
An individual account by the name of Sir Dunning Kruger III has also uploaded 19 photos to the restaurant’s Google Image gallery, with several shots showing worms, insects, and hair in the food. The food and environment in the photos do not resemble the interior design of the restaurant, the dishes or the food on the menu. One picture is just a piece of stool on a plate. Two of the images are from Wolff’s videos, one of Jones and one of his employee.
More work
Jones said that despite the hatred he received, he did not report it to the Salem Police Department. He added that even if he did, people who harassed his company would likely be “across state lines, using the Internet” and would likely require a response at the federal level.
“I will report this as a crime of bias to the Oregon Department of Justice,” Jones said.
He declined to comment on whether he was building a civil rights case except to say he would get a lawyer and “work on it.”
“Our city, the community that we are a part of, has really rallied around us and made it a lot easier to deal with (these situations),” Jones said. “It’s not easy, but it’s different knowing that someone is on your side.”
Jones and restaurant staff are in the midst of a public fundraising drive to help move the restaurant from 130 High Street SE to 508 State St. , expanding to add a women’s sports bar and more.
Related Topics: Epilogue Kitchen Makes Big Steps: New Location, Women’s Sports Bar, Community Building
To keep up with Epilogue Kitchen, you can follow Facebook, Instagram (at) epiloguekitchen, and epilogue-kitchen.square.site.
Em Chan covers food and dining in the Statesman Journal. You can access it at[email protected]Follow her on Twitter @catch up with pityOr see what you eat on Instagram @sikfanmei.ah.