Instead of a sign, Stefan Lercher, owner of the Peppino restaurant in Millstatt am See (Carinthia, Austria), has entrusted his message about the ban on entry for certain customer groups to social networks. He made a very clear clarification in a story posted to the restaurant’s Instagram profile (now gone but visible — no photos — as we began writing this article): This is how the Peppino team kicks off the new year. Also, we would like to inform you all that our restaurant will reopen on January 19th with 6 tables for our regulars and locals. There is room for everyone. Vegans, hippies, ecologists and Arabs excluded. Greetings and Happy New Year.
The restaurateur’s answer
A few lines that of course caused a stir, also because Stefan Lercher is a well-known restaurateur in the area with his famous pizza maker Paolo Romano, winner of various competitions. First he tried to justify his actions by confiding his words to the Kleine Zeitung: We were molested by a group of Arabs. I never want them in my restaurant again, Lercher said, without explaining why, in his view, rudeness is a matter of geographical origin and why his ban has also been extended to include those who don’t eat meat and derivatives, or environmentalists. He also said he’s not afraid of bad publicity and losing clients because he has too many. I’ve been going to the Millstatt gastronomy area for ten years. Catering tires you, so it’s time to select your audience and cut back on the number of covers. I will only concentrate on local guests, explained Lerchner and made it clear that there will be only eight tables from 250 seats, with only three people in the team.
According to the restaurateur, the others will also be affected by this decision: In the summer, this will be a big problem for Millstatt, he told the Kleine Zeitung and justified his words with the fact that the other local restaurants were not big enough to accommodate the many to accommodate tourists. And as if to underline his conviction, he announced his intention to ask the municipality and the tourist office to remove his restaurant from the list of gastronomic activities.
The consequences
His name is not actually on the website of the Carinthian Tourism Association, but Lechener now has to deal with the consequences of his actions, which many consider to be clearly racist. The head of the gastronomy section of the Carinthia Chamber of Commerce told the Kleine Zeitung, which followed this story step by step, that guests could not be turned away on the basis of gender, ethnicity or religion. If a violation becomes known, it should be brought up before the Equal Treatment Commission.
The post was a mistake, Lercher admitted a few days later. But I’m known for my no-nonsense nature, he continued. In the meantime, a complaint signed by Alexander Pollak, activist spokesman for SOS Mitmensch, a human rights association, has been received. The decision is now up to the judge – who knows if he isn’t an Arab, an environmentalist or a vegan.
January 28, 2023 (change January 28, 2023 | 08:31)
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