Opinion: The Arsonist restaurant name is in poor taste

The name of a new Brisbane noshery is offensive, crass and tasteless, writes Kylie Lang. VOTE IN OUR POLL

I understand restaurants need to stand out from the pack, particularly during a profit-crushing pandemic, but naming a new noshery The Arsonist is a step too far.

It is offensive, crass and tasteless.

Far from firing me up to try its flame-grilled offerings, it leaves me cold.

Arson is a serious criminal offence. That’s why it carries the maximum penalty of imprisonment for life.

It’s also why in almost every case before the courts, a sentence of immediate imprisonment is deemed appropriate.

These deviants – whose actions can and do destroy lives, homes and livelihoods – are rightly regarded as unacceptable risks to public safety.

So why call a restaurant after a heinous crime?

In none of the press I’ve read about this newcomer to the dining scene in Manly, in Brisbane’s bayside, has the name been questioned.

Maybe I’m alone in thinking the name is off – perhaps we’ll soon see people dining in The Rapist, The Murderer or The Armed Robber, crimes which also carry a life sentence, and I’ll be labelled out of touch.

Don’t get me wrong, I admire their quest to be different, and their enthusiasm.

The executive chef said ahead of the June opening: “We’ve got our big fire pit and custom smoker in there and we’re going to have a lot of fun”.

So they should, but I would suggest a renaming is in order.

In May, Fortitude Valley restaurant LingLing was accused of being racist and more than 8000 people signed a petition demanding it change the name of certain dishes on the menu.

It worked.

When you order a side of steamed rice you no longer ask for Got Rice Bish but Mr Rice Guy.

Hardcore Asian Prawn has become Sweet and Sour Prawns, Suk Mi Pork Belly is Sticky Pork Belly, and Fook Yu Salt and Pepper Tofu is Salt and Pepper Tofu.

Cocktails that once appeared as Wang Da Wong Number, Shisho Fine and Pho King Champ, are now Hidden Dragon, Drunken Master and Way of the Crane, respectively.

While many people might have had a good chuckle at the previous names, enough people thought them insulting and insensitive for the owners, one of whom has Asian heritage, to modify them.

To my mind, nothing is lost in doing so – the aforementioned creations are still made with the same ingredients and therefore taste the same.

The Arsonist restaurant in Brisbane’s Manly. Picture: Annette Dew

Last week I met two food bloggers, young professional women who grew up in Brisbane and are closely in touch with their Asian communities here.

Well-educated and witty, they told me they were pleased LingLing made some changes, and they were more likely to dine there now.

A friend of mine, whose newly renovated house was destroyed by an arson attack, said there was no way she would set foot inside a restaurant called The Arsonist.

The heinous act of one man caused her and her family so much grief, not to mention money.

Queensland Government crime statistics show arson has risen in Brisbane since 2015, from 140 to 192 in 2020. This year, already 69 incidences have been officially reported to police.

Just last Saturday, police established a crime scene after a massive fire ripped through a shopping centre in Logan.

It wasn’t the first time the recently repaired Windaroo Village had been ablaze, and the owner of the newsagency there said he and his wife were “devastated”.

“It’s just heartbreaking (that) it’s happened again and again. It’s not doing any good for us health wise and stress,” he said.

While I am not suggesting the owners of The Arsonist are condoning or encouraging crime, good taste would suggest to me that they’ve got the name wrong.

Kylie Lang is associate editor of The Courier-Mail

.