Except, no, we're not kidding. But as far as PR is concerned, the tale is laughably tragic.
As reported by various food bloggers this weekend, the president of the Wild Salmon Center says Sinju Restaurant in the Pearl banned him after he gently complained about the endangered bluefin tuna on their menu.
Guido Rahr, a longtime regular at the sushi place, said he noticed bluefin on the menu during lunch this summer and asked whether it was the okay kind—Pacific—or the about-to-vanish kind—Atlantic. He was told it was the latter, and he spoke up and then dropped by later with a packet of information.
"I said it really politely and more in the sense of, 'I'm a regular customer and I'm concerned. You really ought to think twice about doing this—especially in Portland where we take sustainability seriously,'" he told the Atlantic in an interview.
But when Rahr came back a month later, the owner upbraided him for raising the issue in front of customers and not with him directly, and then staff told him he was no longer welcome. Ironically, the restaurant sits across the street from Rahr's office, home to many other conservation groups.
To see the e-mail Rahr sent to Sinju's management, keep reading.
- Via Advanced Tuna Ranching Technologies