Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Fires Back: Plantation Bay Accusations Untrue. ‘Didn’t Manny Gonzalez Resign?’
The accusations contained in the letter by Plantation Bay Resort and Spa CEO J. Manuel González “were simply untrue,” the gastronomic society Chaîne des Rôtisseurs said in an official statement released on Thursday night (June 20).
“We received a letter with some disturbing allegations of racism and unfounded criticisms over comments made about food that was being prepared for one of our dinners,” the group said in a letter emailed to media by Hans Joerg Eulenhoefers, the Bailli du Bailliage of the local Cebu chapter.
ALSO READ
Remember That Guy From the Plantation Bay Meltdown? Well, He Resigned
“As a board, we conducted an audit of the situation and we found no wrongdoing by the tasting committee, in that the small suggestions were not tantamount to changing the whole menu. The accusations were simply untrue,” the group said.
The statement also mentioned how the committee members that was present at the food-tasting was “met with a hostile attitude from whom we thought was the former Resident Shareholder,” who had supposedly resigned due to a previous controversy from a “well-published incident” at the hotel.
The group was alluding to Gonzalez’s controversial public reply to a guest’s unhappy experience at the resort in December 2020. A guest posted a comment on the resort’s TripAdvisor page about how resort officials demanded that her PWD child, who she said was autistic, stop making loud noises. The mother said that the sounds the child was making were a sign her child was enjoying himself, but attempted to abide by officials’ requests anyway.
But Gonzalez replied to her post with harsh words, going so far as to claim her PWD child was given an "incorrect diagnosis of autism" and that she should "google" autism. He even suspected that she was lying about her experience.
The public outcry was swift and severe, leading Gonzalez to issue a public apology and to resign from his post as “Resident Shareholder.”
The latest controversy
On June 11, 2024, Gonzalez wrote the local chapter of Chaîne des Rôtisseurs to inform them that Plantation Bay would no longer be hosting the group’s scheduled dinner for June 29. Gonzalez said in the letter that Marco Anzani, the head of the tasting committee, “made it quite clear that he disapproved of our entire menu.”
Gonzalez also said that each dish they presented during the June 7 tasting “elicited some kind of pedantic, quasi-sneering comment” from Anzani.
Anzani, however, said in a statement sent to Esquire that the comments were made “in the spirit of collaboration.”
“There was no intent to discredit or insult. I uphold the values of La Chaîne and my oath as a director to always honor the art of cuisine and the culture of the table,” Anzani said.
He explained that the tasting committee is obligated to “ensure the quality, standards and the elevation of presentation; and most especially food safety and hygiene with the expectations of the members.”
“The committee suggested some minor changes regarding presentation but were met with a hostile attitude from whom we thought was the former Resident Shareholder (by all accounts, he had resigned due to previous controversy from a well-publicized incident at the hotel),” Chaine said in its statement.
The group said it was disappointed by the withdrawal and described Plantation Bay’s decision to hold the dinner but for the general public as “quite out of order.”
The Chaine des Rotisseurs describes itself as an organization “devoted to the promotion of fine dining and the camaraderie and pleasures of the table.”
