A new restuarant in Australia has attracted criticisim for its old-school British theme.
The British Colonial Co restaurant opened in Brisbane in July, offering diners a “safari style setting” dining experience, promising “adventure and modern refinement”.
Tip top and jolly good, right? Hmm, maybe. The ‘colonial’ tag still made me a little bit suss.
Well, the following description on the retaurant’s website kinda confirms the suspicion:
“Inspired by the stylish days of the empirical push into the developing cultures of the world.”
This is where this old boy choked on his gin and tonic.
So, imperial ‘pushes’ were stylish, huh? And the cultures the Empire lorded it over were only “developing” anyway and certainly not as highly evolved as the British culture that was so generously brought to them (note to marketing agency – a ‘developing’ country refers to its economy, not its culture).
Those savages were jolly lucky to have a bit of Britannia foist upon them, hey what! And all with such panache.
So, what’s on the menu, anyway?
According to the Brisbane Times, I’m not the only one to have felt a ruffle in my post-colonial feathers:
“Racism has become so normalised that people have no idea just how insensitive their actions and words are,” wrote one annoyed Facebooker on the restaurant’s page.
“It’s a theme – not a very good one. But it’s nothing but a poorly thought out hipster theme, a hallmark of gentrification,” posted another.
For their part, the restaurant are sorry, so sorry. Ah, but sort of not really.
“We believe that our décor and menu has great synergy with Brisbane’s climate and the expansive palette of our clientele, who are looking for a melting pot of food and beverages to enjoy in a relaxed atmosphere,” the restaurant said in a statement, according to Fairfax.
“We are therefore upset and saddened by today’s media reports that our brand is causing offence and distress to some members of the community. This certainly was not our intention.”
Hmm, yes well guess what; your average British colonial ruler’s intention was wholly just in their own eyes, so at least you keeping with the theme there, but their ‘adventurous’ subjegation is still a sore point for much of the former Empire’s indigenous peoples for a start. And applying it today as a theme in the name of enjoyment and wealth creation nakedly exposes a certain colonial age ignorance and, worst of all old chap, a lack of class.
TOP IMAGE: Something from those stylish, good old colonial days, hey what.