Rats! “il Vinaio” No Longer Serves Lion Burgers

I read a brief story yesterday from the AP about a restaurant in Phoenix, Mesa actually, .. that’s in Arizona … an upscale Mediterranean eatery, that in celebration of, or as a tribute to the Wold Cup of Football … that’s soccer… began serving Lion Burgers on their Mediterranean menu.

You read it right … Lion Burgers, the friggin’ “King of Beasts” on a friggin’ bun.

Cameron Selogie, the owner of “il Vinaio” (that means “The Wine Seller,” I had to look it up) reported that he couldn’t fry these babies up fast enough and had a waiting list of 100 eager customers licking their chops in anticipation of a taste of Leo.

Like many others around the globe who were aghast at loin of lion for lunch I expressed my outrage in an email and last night I received the following reply:

We do not serve lion at il Vinaio any longer.
Thank you for your time. We do respect your opinion and apologize for offending you.

This was a polite and measured response to my email which, I admit, was penned (with my trademark subtlety) after a few beers:

I hope that your “lion burgers” kill several customers and you sick bastards are sued out of existence. Bob Higgins

Mr. Selogie probably didn’t expect the international disdain, the pickets outside his establishment, the hundreds of emails (some of them from sober people) and the death threats that ensued as a result of his exotic entrée.

As he said:

“I was led to believe they were not hunted, they were not shot, they were not abused,” Selogie said. “I feel I was misled by this.”

Speaking of subtlety, I have to appreciate “not hunted not shot, not abused,” as if being tossed on a plate and served up as lunch with a side of fries seems sensitive enough.

Apparently this is all perfectly legal as the Lions in question weren’t endangered (no, actually they were … dead) and the importation of African lions is permitted.

The meat is reported to have come from a “free range farm,” where the animals get fresh air and exercise before they are dispatched in an unknown but certainly non abusive manner and tenderly and respectfully placed on a sesame bun.

So, Arizona, where nannies or gardeners without papers are seen as a grave threat to the American dream, where driving while brown is probable cause for detention and arrest, adds to it’s list of quaint and curious behaviors.

Serving Lion meat is legal, according to the FDA, (a branch of our government) which makes sense when you realize that BP’s drilling and disaster response plan was approved by the Materials Management Service another branch of our government.

We are, after all, a nation of laws.

Bob Higgins

Source: Phoenix restaurant serves lion burgers despite protests

Originally posted at my site Bob Higgins