Kat Ensign food influencer attempts to cancel San Francisco’s Swan Oyster Depot after discovering co -owners, Kevin and Tom Sancimino displaying a MAGA hat on the restaurant shelf leading to social media revolt and YELP besieged with disparaging reviews as the brothers defend their decision to display hat.
A food influencer’s attempt to cancel a San Francisco oyster house has backfired after stoking discontent with her followers after stating she’d come across a pro Trump hat propped up on the restaurant’s shelf.
Matters came to a head after Kat Ensign shared a picture of a MAGA hat she saw while waiting to order at Swan Oyster Depot.
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Kat Ensign food influencer attempts to cancel SF restaurant
‘Spotted at swan after waiting in a long a** line,’ Ensign, who goes by @katfoodsf on Instagram, wrote on a photo of an American flag baseball cap with ’45 47′ on the front.
These two numbers have become popular symbols among conservatives, as they represent each of Donald Trump‘s presidential terms.
Doubling down on her discontent, the audio she placed over the image is someone saying: ‘Absolutely not, absolutely not, absolutely not – turn around, full U-turn.’
Ensign uploaded the post on Tuesday, repeating her disdain once again, ‘swan oyster depot -> absolutely not’ as the caption.
She also shared the divisive image on TikTok, asking her more than 16,000 followers, ‘am I late to the game or did everyone know this?’
But the attempt to cancel the restaurant backfired when social media users turned against her, disagreeing with Ensign’s bid to shame the eatery.
One of the Swan Oyster Depot co-owners addressing the episode, stated the MAGA hat is not a fair representation of his family’s restaurant.
Kevin Sancimino, who owns the restaurant with his brother Tom, told SFGate the hat wasn’t treated any differently from other items the staff was given.
‘It was a gift from a customer, much like a lot of the stuff that ends up in our store, whether it’s rubber duckies or dollar bills from all over the world,’ he said.
‘Our place is a collection of things that have come in over years. We’ve got pictures of Ronald Reagan. He was a customer years ago.
‘One of our treasured possessions is a letter from Margaret Thatcher on the news of Parliament.’
Should restaurant be forced to take down MAGA hat cause food influencer disagrees with political views?
In the aftermath of the post, the award-winning fish counter was defended by people who found Ensign’s post more divisive than the hat itself, the dailymail reported.
Wrote one commentator under her post: ‘At what point, as a country, did we decide that it’s okay to attack and shame a fellow citizen because they don’t have the same political view that we do?’
‘That’s awesome supporting the United States and what makes America Great!!!’ someone added.
‘To bash it is just poor liberals just being upset and having nothing better to do with their lives.’
Nevertheless the eatery was targeted by those who agreed with Ensign, with some vowing to never to come back after the restaurant declining to remove the MAGA hat.
‘Oh that is so disappointing… thank god we are lucky enough to live in such a beautiful city with so many fantastic restaurants with amazing food, that are deserving of our support,’ one person wrote.
‘Never been and now won’t have a reason to go,’ another chimed in, with someone adding ‘Oh hello no! Hard pass. Disappointing.’
Commentators pile on Yelp to beat up San Francisco oyster restaurant
The episode spilled over to Yelp, the reviewing site, with the outlet once receiving four and five stars, now seeing its page inundated with disparaging comments and low ratings.
‘The MAGA vibes are gettin creepy,’ reads one review while another posted, ‘Why patronize a place that supports a President who attacks everything that the City stands for?’
Yelp has since stopped allowing people to rank the restaurant.
‘This business recently received increased public attention, which often means people come to this page to post their views on the news,’ the website reads.
Of note, the SFist reports Swan Oyster Depot and its owners, the Sancimino brothers, getting called out in 2021 both for not following proper COVID-era protocols, and for what was perceived as a racist incident in which one of them yelled ‘dim sum’ at an Asian customer.
In defending the hat’s presence, Sancimino claimed the post was strangely timed, as it went up while the Swan was closed for the holiday.
The seafood restaurant has been closed since July 2 for the Fourth of July and will reopen on July 14, according to its Instagram page.
The co-owner added the ’45 47′ hat has not been on display for at least two weeks before the establishment closed.
‘People can have their different political views, and we can all coexist in the same space,’ Sancimino told SFGate.
‘I just find it to be a little bit sad that somebody would try to make a pariah out of someone or their business for having an alternative political view.
‘It seems myopic… Why does political belief not fall under the realm of inclusivity?’
Ensign has since revealed she lives about a mile away from the eaterie and had often walked to dine at the restaurant. Until now…
