No jab, no meal at Aria restaurant: cue the backlash

A noted Sydney restaurant announces it will take bookings only from fully vaccinated punters. That’s sensible. So why all the abuse?

The way things were: we’re all missing the joy of eating out.

It seemed such an innocuous announcement. The noted Sydney restaurant Aria went on Instagram to say bookings would open on October 18. “As per the NSW Government advice, only fully vaccinated guests will be allowed to enter our venue, staff will be wearing masks and check-in processes will be in place.” Mild, really.

So how could a statement of the bleeding obvious – to those of us who accept that full vaccination is the only way out of this hole – provoke such a maelstrom of public comment, hatred and abuse? I genuinely don’t understand.

Human rights – including the choice to be vaccinated or not – are the hallmark of a civilised society but so too is ability to walk free and associate with whomever we please. Not to mention the responsibility to our fellow citizens. Vaccination is such a small sacrifice for the greater good. And yet, at last count, this small announcement had generated 10,900 comments, and counting. That’s just ridiculous. And so much of it reminds me of the kind of misguided outrage that led to the storming of the US Capitol.

Aria restaurant, Sydney

One of the first to comment was Pat Nourse, former managing editor of Gourmet Traveller. “Welcome back, Aria, and congratulations Tom [Gorringe, the new executive chef],” he wrote, magnanimously. And ordinarily, you might have expected a few hundred similar responses. But this is not an ordinary time.

Soon, @coach_laito from Victoria chimed in. “They should have known better than to play the segregation game,” he replied to Nourse. “They’re on the wrong side of history. Hope this establishment goes under for this treason.”

And the horses were on the track. From inarticulate yobs to tightly wound conspiracy theorists, alternative-medicine types and those who would call out virtue signalling, the floodgates were open. “I guess nothing says ‘great Australian restaurant’ like blatant discrimination, right?” commented @alman006, reflecting the sentiment of many of the replies to Nourse.

Now, I fully support applying restrictions to those who will not get vaccinated. So (perhaps naively) I weighed in with a post supporting Aria’s restaurateur: “Great to see someone showing some spine on this @chefmattmoran.”

Well heck. This apparently makes me a (fully vaccinated) moron. “Showing spine? This is cowardly behaviour I’ll never forget it and I don’t think I could ever visit again and experience the same level of service knowing you [the restaurant] made this decision,” was the first of 176 replies, this one from @hello_hermoine, a “News Personality” according to her Instagram profile. After going down the rabbit hole of parry and thrust with multiple responders, she added: “It’s clearly descrimination [sic] and a mechanism to introduce further control.” And later: “It’s fascinating to watch fascism unfold on [sic] Australia of all places.” She’s an Aussie living in Dubai, apparently.

From another correspondent: “Kowtowing to the oppressors means ‘showing spine’ to you? [Three stupid emojis]. Man. You must live in Communist China.” Several warned me I’m on the “wrong side of history”. One, a “Mstr Healer”, told me: “You might want to go and watch the latest announcement about the jabbyjabs being confirmed bioweapons designed to kill millions of people.” Maybe this was parody. Either way, Instagram gets more amusing every day.

But as the saga played out, I got tired of the venom directed at Aria, wishing it to fail. I hope the restaurant thrives; I hope everyone who’s able to splash out makes a booking and checks out new chef Tom. And it looks like Aria’s stance will be the norm, by the way. Neil Perry’s new restaurant Margaret, for example, is taking reservations from October 20 and says “all guests will be required to show proof of their vaccinations upon arrival”.

I’ll leave the last word to the entertaining and anonymous @cooksuck: “Anti-vaxxers are kinda like people who have done a big shit in their pants. You’re generally allowed to do it, it’s actually very natural, and using the bathroom is possibly a capitalist hoax created by Big Toilet™, but the general public don’t want you in the room with them while they’re eating, with all due respect.”

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