Animal rights group targets Sparrow + Wolf again — VIDEO
More than two dozen protesters lined the Spring Mountain Road sidewalk near Sparrow + Wolf on Sunday evening, for the second demonstration against the restaurant in four days. Members of Animal Action Las Vegas carried signs declaring, “It’s not food, it’s violence,” “Their lives not ours” and other messages encouraging veganism and decrying meat in general, and specifically foie gras.
Supporters of Sparrow + Wolf showed up in solidarity with the restaurant and its chef, Brian Howard. While most supporters stayed indoors or on the restaurant’s property at the first protest on Thursday, this time about 10 took to the sidewalk with signs of their own, including “My body my choice” and “Say no to food terrorists.”
Inside the restaurant, dozens more gathered in support ofHoward and his team, including several high-profile local chefs and restaurateurs.
While the protest and counter-protest were relatively small, and generally civil, passions were high.
On one side, Animal Action Las Vegas ran through speeches and chants:
“We are unstoppable. A vegan world is possible.
“Peace begins, on your plate.”
Getting personal
Animal Action Las Vegas targeted the restaurant not only for serving meat, but also for its use of lesser-known parts of animals, including livers used in foie gras, lamb necks and thymus glands of calves or lambs used in sweetbreads. Some were angry about photos Howard had posted on social media posing with parts of slaughtered animals, including the head of a pig.
Most of the counter-protesters defended Howard, and expressed anger that Animal Action Las Vegas had targeted a small mom-and-pop business. Others were concerned for the chef’s safety.
In a Saturday Facebook post, Howard stated he “received six death threats to my life and to my family (and) over 15 nasty text messages to myself and family members.” That post was shared more than 240 times, and ignited a war of words between the supporters of Sparrow + Wolf and those of the animal rights group.
Darren Lara, co-organizer of the animal rights group, insists that if any threats were made, they weren’t made by his organization.
“Anybody within our organization AALV that has ever had any communication with anybody (has) never made any threats,” he stated on Sunday. “And we are totally open to working with the police, working with any business or any entity and finding out who those people are… Because they don’t align with us or our values. We are a non-violent group, 100 percent.”
Howard says he’s scheduled to meet with police Monday to discuss the threats.
Lara and his supporters pointed to posts in support of Sparrow + Wolf, which they viewed as threatening. In the hours leading up to Sunday’s protest, both Lara and Howard had taken to Facebook again to encourage everyone to remain peaceful.
A change in tone
The original decision to target Sparrow + Wolf was based on several factors.
“One of them is visibility,” said Lara, noting the public sidewalk that runs past the restaurant’s main windows on a busy stretch of Spring Mountain Boulevard.
Another was the inclusion of exotic ingredients on the menu.
“It’s easier to address Sally walking down the street and say, ‘Hey they’ve got lamb neck in there, what do you think of that?’ ” Lara explained at the conclusion of Sunday’s event. “Or, ‘They’ve got sweetbreads, do you know what that is?’ or “ ‘Hey Sally, they’ve got foie gras, what do you think of that?’ ” And if they say, ‘Ooh, that’s gross!’ or ‘Ehh never,’ then maybe they can align with the whole thing about how we feel about meat and dairy across the board.”
While the group’s recent protests have been directed at large, corporate restaurants, Lara says, “We are not exempting mom-and-pop businesses just because they are mom-and-pop businesses. If it was a mom-and-pop business that was selling slaves, it’s no different than a big, corporate facility that was selling slaves. It’s all bad. It’s all wrong.”
When Howard first learned his restaurant had been targeted for protest, he says he welcomed the opportunity to open a dialogue with the group. The chef takes pride in sourcing meats from humane purveyors and providing meat-free options for his many vegan customers. On the day before the first demonstration, he announced a special vegan menu “in honor of our protesters,” and posted it online in an announcement that read “To our Protesters[,] we welcome and respect and embrace your choices, as everyone has a choice. [W]e appreciate the message you share and believe in, but that is not our choice. We choose to be a house for everyone. The threats and disruption of business support a much worse cause. There are better ways to educate and spread your word.”
At Thursday’s protest, Howard said he and his team had hoped to bring samples of their vegan cuisine to the protesters, but were informed it wouldn’t be welcomed.
On Sunday, Lara spoke to a handful of chefs and restaurateurs about possible common ground. He did not, however, meet directly with Howard, despite both insisting that they would be happy to have a private discussion.
Lara says the protests will continue until Sparrow + Wolf removes some items, including foie gras, from its menu. That, says Howard, is a non-starter.
“I’ve seen how it went in California. It was take foie gras off the menu. Then they came back with take veal off the menu. Then they want to take pork off the menu.”
At this point, no additional protests have been announced.
Contact Al Mancini at amancini@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlManciniVegas on Twitter.
