Preston chef BANS vegans from his Australian restaurant – and it’s not the first time he’s made headlines

A chef from Preston has angered vegans across the world after announcing he’ll no longer cater for them in his restaurant in Australia.

John Mountain, who is originally from our shores but has since moved Down Under, reacted to a negative review of his food online – which ended up causing a stir in itself. It started when a young girl asked if there were any vegan options in his restaurant, Fyre – Perth – with John saying he’d accommodate her dietary requirements.

However, when she arrived, he had forgotten all about her request after being busied by a private party, prompting the diner to leave a one-star negative review. John responded by banning all vegans from his restaurant in Perth, Australia, due to “mental health reasons.”

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In a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page, John wrote: “Sadly all vegans are now banned from FYRE (for mental health reasons). We thank you for your understanding. Xx.”

However, as reported by the Daily Mail, this incident is not the first time 55-year-old John has garnered attention. More than a decade ago, the restaurateur appeared on BBC’s Great British Menu, a caused quite the stir.

The chef insisted on cooking a rabbit stew pudding for King Charles, then the Prince of Wales, but serving it on a plastic plate. He then stormed off the set and started to swear at Michelin-starred chef, Marcus Wareing, when he was given a two out of ten for his fish dish.

John started out in his career with a culinary education by Marco Pierre White at Mirabelle, his Mayfair restaurant. He also worked under Heston Blumental at the Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire.

However, his boozing habits soon got the better of him and he decided he didn’t want to work for anyone else anymore. He told the West Australian in 2019 : “I was being paid far too much and was p****d almost every night. My fridge was full of nothing but Veuve Clicquot.”

In 2000, he opened his own restaurant in Wood Green, north London called ‘Mosaica’. Here, he received glowing reviews from critics – a bit different to the reaction from vegans over the last few weeks.

His success landed him the appearance on Great British Menu, where he attempted to present the King’s stew on a plastic plate, but was ridiculed by the others for doing so. However, he defended himself, saying: “Strangely enough looking at the plastic plate, I think something like that would make someone like Prince Charles chuckle.”

However, John revealed in a Channel 4 interview with Ruby Wax that he is “not eccentric” and instead has a “mental problem.” He added: “As I walked out and kicked the doors open, all I saw was this six foot picture of myself staring down at me.

“I looked at it and pulled it down and snapped it, smashed it and kicked it down the studio. When I got home I fell into my wife’s arms and cried my eyes out. It just got worse. I thought about suicide and how I would do it.”

His next venture, the English Pink in Milbank, London, was a bit more of a disaster, with it closing after only 24 months and costing John £200,000. In 2016, he emigrated to Australia with his wife and two children, before setting up the Fyre after settling in.

Now, he’s making headlines again for his response to one vegan diner. Writing on social media, John explained: “A young girl reached out to me and said she was coming to the restaurant… and asked if there were vegan options.

“It was my only shortfall… I said I would accommodate her, I said we had gnocchi, vegetables… and that was that.” After not carrying out the diner’s request, she prompted a slurry of negative reviews for Fyre, which John said “really hurts the business.”

Her complaint read: “My only option was the vegetable dish… it was okay but not that filling… and I was shocked to see it was $32. I think it’s incredibly important nowadays that restaurants can accommodate everyone and to not be able to have actual plant-based meals shows your shortcomings as a chef.

“I hope to see some improvements in your menu as I have lived in Connolly for quite some time and have seen many restaurants come and go from that building and none of them last. If you don’t get with the times, I don’t hold out faith that your restaurant will be the one that does.”

According to PerthNow, the restaurant responded to the review, saying they try to “accommodate everyone”, but took a swipe at the reviewer by adding: “Thanks for your negative review… please feel free to share your s**tty experience and I look forward to not seeing you again. How very childish.

“You and all your vegan mates can all go and enjoy your dishes in another venue. You are now banned.”

Appearing on TV, Mountain told The Project: “I have nothing against nobody apart from those who want to damage my business. I don’t care whether you’re green, yellow, orange, you could be Mexican, I don’t give a monkeys.

“You try and damage my business, you come after me, you are going to have the wrath of Johnny Chuffin Mountain against you.” However, it appears things are now looking up for his business saying he now has 35 people booked into his restaurant, as opposed to the usually half a dozen.

Commenting on the Facebook post where John announced the ban, many people rushed to his support, with one posting: “Bravo!!! Good on you mate, great stance. It’s nowhere near where I live but I will definitely come to your restaurant now.”

Another agreed with this by posting: “And so they should be. The last meal we had here was amazing. Food was delicious and service was on point. I will definitely go again!!”