Aussie woman who opened a sushi restaurant receives unexpected twist after ‘cultural appropriation’ backlash
- Replies 5
Like most dreams, Alex Mark’s started small.
In October, the 27-year-old Aussie quit her job as a corporate lawyer to open a sushi restaurant in New York City.
But what should have been an exciting new journey in the Big Apple quickly descended into a living nightmare, as Mark found herself at the epicentre of an online bullying scandal.
Mark was called a 'coloniser' and was accused of 'cultural appropriation' by another chef named Eric Rivera when she opened 'Sushi Counter'.
'But it’s ‘stralian sushi. Give me a break, coloniser,' Rivera said dismissively.
'If you don’t see why this is a problem, you are the problem.'
While many agreed with Rivera and attempted to wreck Mark’s reputation, there were also others who stepped in to defend Mark.
One such supporter was Jack Mac, who defended Mark in a video that has now been viewed by 3.2 million people.
In an unexpected twist of fate, Mac brought rather encouraging news: all the sushi at the restaurant had sold out when he visited the restaurant to show his support.
'Guys, so obviously I went to the sushi shop,' he said.
'I got here [and it’s] sold out for tonight.'
'Thankfully our society has slowly woken up to buzzwords like that, often being nonsense, [and] it failed.'
Other users took to social media to show their support for Mark, whose restaurant has now received a 4.2 star rating on Google.
In another video on social media, a person named 'legendary.eatz' said that what the online community did to Ms Marks was 'despicable' and pointed out the hypocrisy of Rivera as he plans to open a fusion Puerto Rican Izakaya restaurant.
'Izakaya in Japanese. He is Puerto Rican,' they said.
Marc Murphy, a chef and TV personality, also showed his support and visited the restaurant. He urged everyone to try the food rather than participating in an online frenzy.
'It’s hard enough making money in the restaurant business, let’s not pick on each other, let’s just be nice to each other,' he said.
Moreover, Conservative US Political Commentator Matt Walsh chimed in on the conversation and defended Mark.
'As a sane person myself, I can’t fathom how anyone could conjure those kinds of emotions in relation to a sushi restaurant.'
'The first and most obvious thing is that this deranged standard is only ever applied to white people and would never—and has never—gone the other way.
'You’ll never hear of a pizza place being bombarded with negative reviews because it’s owned by an Asian guy. Or a burger joint being protested because it’s run by a Hispanic woman.
'You’ll certainly never hear anyone telling a black chef what sorts of cuisine he isn’t allowed to cook based on his race.'
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In October, the 27-year-old Aussie quit her job as a corporate lawyer to open a sushi restaurant in New York City.
But what should have been an exciting new journey in the Big Apple quickly descended into a living nightmare, as Mark found herself at the epicentre of an online bullying scandal.
Mark was called a 'coloniser' and was accused of 'cultural appropriation' by another chef named Eric Rivera when she opened 'Sushi Counter'.
'But it’s ‘stralian sushi. Give me a break, coloniser,' Rivera said dismissively.
'If you don’t see why this is a problem, you are the problem.'
Alex Mark, an Aussie in the US, quit her job to open an Australian-style sushi in New York City. Image source: Instagram/@thedetailedlocal.
While many agreed with Rivera and attempted to wreck Mark’s reputation, there were also others who stepped in to defend Mark.
One such supporter was Jack Mac, who defended Mark in a video that has now been viewed by 3.2 million people.
In an unexpected twist of fate, Mac brought rather encouraging news: all the sushi at the restaurant had sold out when he visited the restaurant to show his support.
'Guys, so obviously I went to the sushi shop,' he said.
'I got here [and it’s] sold out for tonight.'
'Thankfully our society has slowly woken up to buzzwords like that, often being nonsense, [and] it failed.'
Other users took to social media to show their support for Mark, whose restaurant has now received a 4.2 star rating on Google.
In another video on social media, a person named 'legendary.eatz' said that what the online community did to Ms Marks was 'despicable' and pointed out the hypocrisy of Rivera as he plans to open a fusion Puerto Rican Izakaya restaurant.
'Izakaya in Japanese. He is Puerto Rican,' they said.
Marc Murphy, a chef and TV personality, also showed his support and visited the restaurant. He urged everyone to try the food rather than participating in an online frenzy.
'It’s hard enough making money in the restaurant business, let’s not pick on each other, let’s just be nice to each other,' he said.
Moreover, Conservative US Political Commentator Matt Walsh chimed in on the conversation and defended Mark.
'As a sane person myself, I can’t fathom how anyone could conjure those kinds of emotions in relation to a sushi restaurant.'
'The first and most obvious thing is that this deranged standard is only ever applied to white people and would never—and has never—gone the other way.
'You’ll never hear of a pizza place being bombarded with negative reviews because it’s owned by an Asian guy. Or a burger joint being protested because it’s run by a Hispanic woman.
'You’ll certainly never hear anyone telling a black chef what sorts of cuisine he isn’t allowed to cook based on his race.'
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