Oceana Responds (Again) This Time To Eater
Last week we (half-heartedly) defended Oceana against charges of racism, writing off Chubby Chinese Girl’s lunchtime photo of their all-Asian back room as a hilariously funny coincidence caught in a photo. But after reading the letter Oceana sent to Eater on Friday afternoon, I think we might be reconsidering our stance. Rather than just laughing off the whole incident as a coincidence, they actually tried to make it seem like the photo was a misrepresentation of the scene. Hilarious. Dude… just admit it. The back room was filled with Asians last Sunday for lunch (6 out of 6 tables to be exact). Who cares about the “other 82 tables”. Those tables aren’t in the back room! Also, how stupid do you have to be to send a letter about this to Eater. Most of their readers probably didn’t even notice their initial mention of the story… but you better believe they saw your letter. Well played sir. Well played. (Oh, and thanks for calling me a journalist! That was the funniest part of the letter…)
Posted by Zach Brooks at 8:30 am, July 26th, 2010 under Restaurant Week.
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54 Comments
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Unfortunately, I believe that Zach is a bit too emotionally attached to this issue and perhaps to CCG.
I would guess that is why MY post, which was far less damning than many others on this forum, was deleted.
I certainly question CCG’s motives for this criticism, and I expressed my intention to check it out (OCEANA) when my wife once again drags me to NYC in three weeks.
But then, I cannot compete with CCG, so “MODERATE” and “DELETE” away.
Carrion, please.
I know CCG… and she’s not lying. There is a back room at the restaurant- separate from the main room- and last week when she was seated in the back room, all six occupied tables were taken up by Asian people. It’s silly to dispute that fact.
I think most people were more interested to find out from the restaurant if it’s possible that this was done intentionally- for business reasons.
For example… one explanation could be that most people don’t like sitting in the back room. And the host knows that Asian people are less likely to complain or ask to be moved. So, to avoid a confrontation they tend to seat Asian people in the back room. Whether or not you want to call that “racism” is a different story… but it would be a plausible explanation.
Nobody thinks that Oceana hates Asian people. Or harbors malice toward Asian people. They clearly don’t. It seems to me that at this point, the few people that still care about this are just taking issue with the fact that those who side with the restaurant are now attacking the photo or the person who took the photo, or deflecting blame, rather than just offering a plausible explanation for why there were six tables in the back room, and they were occupied by Asian diners.
I personally think it’s a coincidence. A hilarious coincidence caught in a photograph. Obviously, others disagree. To argue about anything beyond that is pretty futile. Come to think of it… all of this is futile! Why are we still talking about it?! :-)