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'I’ve had enough': Restaurant's viral rejection of vegan blogger's free feast bid

Mel Buttigieg
Updated

An Irish restaurant that declined a blogger’s request for a free vegan feast in exchange for publicity has earned the global fame at no expense, after ridiculing the writer on Twitter.

The offended restaurant owner tweeted a screen grab of the blogger’s proposal earlier this month, after he “had enough” of requests from bloggers seeking freebies.

“The start of another week in paradise.. “ the Campagne restaurant tweeted.

The restaurant received more publicity for declining the blogger's proposal for a review in exchange for a free vegan spread, than it probably would have for accepting. Picture: Getty, File
The restaurant received more publicity for declining the blogger's proposal for a review in exchange for a free vegan spread, than it probably would have for accepting. Picture: Getty, File

“We will be in Kilkenny specifically on 10 October,” the blogger said in their message to Campagne restaurant in Kilkenny city.

“In exchange for a vegan meal for two (we would ideally like to try several items on the menu), we would be happy to provide significant online exposure on both our blogs and social media accounts.”


In exchange for the free spread, the writer promised to include the restaurant in their “Vegan Guide to Ireland and/or N Ireland posts” as well as live posts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram during their visit.

A non-vegan veal dish served up at the Campagne Restaurant, Kilkenny, Ireland. Picture: Campagne Restaurant/Facebook
A non-vegan veal dish served up at the Campagne Restaurant, Kilkenny, Ireland. Picture: Campagne Restaurant/Facebook

Restaurant owner Garrett Byrne said he stopped reading the proposal after the mention of "several" vegan dishes.

His tweet created an online storm from patrons who supported his stance on the solicitation, which eventually went viral.

Mr Byrne told The Telegraph the Michelin-starred restaurant received regular requests from bloggers hoping to strike up an arrangement, and expressed his dissatisfaction with them.

“I don’t normally tweet about them, but this one just struck a chord. We get about 10 per year on average,” he said.

He said he didn’t think restaurants should entertain these requests from bloggers.

Another meat dish, of venison brisket, savoy cabbage, butternut squash and red wine onions, on the menu. Picture: Campagne Restaurant/Facebook
Another meat dish, of venison brisket, savoy cabbage, butternut squash and red wine onions, on the menu. Picture: Campagne Restaurant/Facebook

“I see these requests throughout the year and I’ve had enough of them, so I decided to tweet it and it has pretty much gone crazy.”

In response to the viral tweet, one diner made a joke about his failed attempt to cash in on a free meal for comment.


“Following on from this, my wife and I had a delightful experience there at the weekend. Please refund out bill in exchange for this tweet,” he wrote.

One person chimed in saying: “Who the hell wants to be exposed to vegan's anyways? Buy your own lettuce.”

Another highlighted the irony in the restaurant actually gaining more online exposure for knocking back the blogger’s opportunity for publicity.

“Their job was done for free as I'm now aware of you and will be looking to try out the food. I'll be paying of course,” he tweeted.