Posted on 07/02/2020 9:19:58 AM PDT by nwrep
Chef John Gorham
------------------------------------------------------------
Wife and Restaurant Group Leader Renee Gorham
Toro Bravo Restaurant, Portland, OREGON
Toro Bravo Inc., a restaurant group that once included nearly a dozen restaurants and a gleaming Pearl District “gastronomic society,” will be dissolved in the wake of a Facebook outburst directed at a trans woman of color by chef John Gorham, his wife Renee Gorham told staff at a meeting Wednesday morning, sources told The Oregonian/OregonLive.
The closures will include destination Spanish restaurant Toro Bravo, brunch-focused sister restaurants Tasty n Alder and Tasty n Daughters as well as the Pearl District events space Plaza del Toro. John Gorham had already struck a deal to divest his interests in seven other restaurants within the Toro Bravo Inc. group.
Plaza Del Toro, Portland
.jpg)
------------------------------------------------------
Tasty n Alder, Portland
The decision, which was confirmed by Renee Gorham on Wednesday evening, puts an end to one of the most successful Portland restaurant groups of the past decade. And it comes after a widespread departure of staff, many of whom left after the offensive nature of Gorham’s private Facebook messages was revealed last weekend, according to a half dozen current and former employees.
The saga began in May, after several Toro Bravo Inc. vans parked near Southeast Portland’s Tasty n Daughters were tagged. According to the Gorhams, the graffiti was part of a string of break-ins and vandalism that had cost the company a combined $75,000 as they struggled to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, leaving the chef on edge.
Gorham took to Facebook on May 23, floating the idea of starting a “vigilante” neighborhood patrol to keep properties safe and offering a $5,000 reward for information about the vandals. That post caught the eye of a trans woman of color, who said she decided to “mock” Gorham with a separate post, which offered to leave a box of free spray paint for any street artists who might need it, while captioning a photo of Gorham’s tagged vans with, “Art fills me with such joy.” The woman asked not to be identified after receiving harassment.
Gorham was soon alerted to the woman’s post and, along with his followers, began to release personal details about the woman, apparently thinking she was responsible for the graffiti, including a picture of her and another of her SUV, license plate visible.
A series of heated exchanges followed both in public comments and private messages, as Gorham and his followers made veiled threats against the person behind the mocking post. Though John Gorham claimed he did not know the woman’s gender at the time, the chef threatened to “kick you in your little man (vulgar term for a woman’s genitalia),” according to screenshots of private messages she provided to The Oregonian/OregonLive. Last week, she approached the Gorhams for money, saying she planned to take the story public.
The Gorhams offered to donate $5,000 to the charity of her choice as an apology; she asked to be paid directly, promising to donate half, according to emails the Gorhams shared with The Oregonian/OregonLive. Ultimately, the Gorhams said they made a $5,000 donation to the Native American Youth and Family Center and issued a public apology.
On June 24, Renee Gorham announced she would take over leadership of Toro Bravo Inc., saying she did not condone her husband’s behavior.
In an email to The Oregonian/OregonLive last week, John Gorham announced he had checked into the hospital and would “not be returning to the company.” In a separate announcement posted to the company’s website, he apologized for his “extremely immature outbreak and misguided anger via Facebook.”
According to a current employee, Renee Gorham met with staff at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Plaza Del Toro to announce that the restaurant group would be dissolved and that Toro Bravo, Tasty n Alder and Tasty n Daughters would not reopen. She also announced that Plaza Del Toro, which has been acting as a community kitchen during the coronavirus-enforced shutdown, would also close after fulfilling its contracts with nonprofits through its Feed It Forward meal train sponsorship program.
My 1000th thread!
Quit abusing the Front Page sidebar.
This was a front page story in the Oregonian.
Oregon Ping
A guy like this can be successful at whatever he does, wherever he goes
Time to GTFO of Oregon for sure!
Lessons Learned:
1. Control your anger
2. Control your speech
3. Never use social media to threaten anyone for anything.
I think most people could understand that the guy had a bad loss inflicted on him during a time of hellish stress. I think most people could understand that the weirdo who chose that time to provoke him was begging for a negative response and pretty much deserved whatever he/she/it got. Why close your business over this?
“Last week, she approached the Gorhams for money, saying she planned to take the story public.
The Gorhams offered to donate $5,000 to the charity of her choice as an apology; she asked to be paid directly...”
So when is the trannie going to be indicted for blackmail?
Because of high-profile public shaming in the tight-knit world of Portland restaurant culture.
Because in Portland the weirdo became a hero for encouraging additional destruction and he is considered a criminal for failing to fall in line. So his business was already lost.
So?
what the heck?
What is the max population of Trans? 1% of the US - but yet they can set traps for everyone.
So.
How many jobs lost, tax revenue for Portland, rent for property owners, business for restaurant supply companies because some tranny got it’s panties in a wad?
And do not let your wife take over your business. Good grief. No need to dissolve
Looks like trans > Hispanics
BLACK people better get ready to pay reparations to trannies who were abused by them allegedly...
The woman asked not to be identified after receiving harassment. Gorham was soon alerted to the woman’s post and, along with his followers, began to release personal details about the woman, apparently thinking she was responsible for the graffiti, including a picture of her and another of her SUV, license plate visible.
So it harrasses a businessman and encourages property destruction, and he (or his followers) retaliate with words.
And the business owner loses all.
So this “trans woman of color” called for destruction of the man’s property. Welcome to the new America in which all normal people are expected to bow down and worship their new masters: trans women of color.
He should have known better than to dis the new gods. They are the new masters and rulers. Dissing someone with only one special privilege is bad enough, but THREE! You can never win with that. The guy had three strikes against him: White, normal, male. Impossible to win with a genetic background like that.
It doesn’t work that way. He’s (the mentally ill man pretending to be a woman) is a protected class.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.