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ANew York City restauranttouting “healthified” versions of traditionalChinese disheswas forced to defend itself from criticism that its concept whitewashed meals likelo meinand kung pao chicken.
Lucky Lee’s, which bills itself as serving “feel great Chinese food for all,” opened Monday in Greenwich Village, but has been teasing its menu items on Instagram for months.
In a since-deleted post, the restaurant boasted of its lo mein recipe, writing it wouldn’t make customers feel “bloated and icky.”
“We heard you’re obsessed with lo mein but rarely eat it. You said it makes you feel bloated and icky the next day?” the post read, according to Eater. “Well, wait until you slurp up our HIGH lo mein. Not too oily. Or salty.”
Owner Arielle Haspel toldEaterthat Lucky’s Lee’s recipes were “clean,” and free of gluten, wheat, refined sugar, GMO and additives.
“There are very few American-Chinese places as mindful about the quality of ingredients as we are,” she said. “We’re excited to offer it to people who want this type of food, and it can make them feel good and they can workout after and they can feel focused after and it will add to their health.”
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“Leave it to the white people to f— up Asian cuisine,” another commented. “Haven’t seen the prices but I’m sure it’s over-priced and under-seasoned. Miss me with this one. Looks like it’s for the birds.”
Haspel addressed the criticism and defended Lucky Lee’s in an Instagram post Tuesday that vowed to “listen and reflect accordingly” to patrons’ issues.
She also defended criticism of the restaurant’s name, which some had called out as a stereotype, explaining that her husband’s name is Lee.
“Owners Arielle and Lee are both Jewish-American New Yorkers, born and raised. Similar to many other Jewish New Yorkers’ diets, bagels, pastrami sandwiches and yes, American Chinese food, were big and very happy parts of their childhoods,” she wrote. “New York is the ultimate melting pot and Lucky Lee’s is another example of two cultures coming together. To us, this is a good thing.”
Lucky Lee’s Yelp page has since been put under an “unusual activity alert,” though a majority of the reviews on the review site are positive.
source: people.com
