Indigenous Kitchen, a Vancouver café on Commercial Drive that had been marketing itself as an Indigenous-owned and operated establishment, is now facing backlash.
“They have no business serving anything indigenous, period,” said Inez Cook, owner of the Salmon N’ Bannock bistro.
Cook says she was excited when she saw the posters online featuring items like Bannock and ice cream bars made with indigenous fruits.
“There’s a local Facebook group for indigenous foods, so I asked who’s behind this, who owns this. I love celebrating indigenous businesses, but nobody knew anything; it was crickets,” she said.
She decided to check it out herself, and what she saw was far from what was advertised.
“Everything was literally rotten, mouldy, freezer burnt, absolutely deplorable. You would not feed it to anyone,” she told CityNews.
“I held it up and asked if he would be happy if he paid for this?”
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In an update, the café clarified that they’re not actually Indigenous-owned but are proud to work with indigenous food creators.
With all the tourists flocking to Vancouver for the FIFA World Cup, Cook says that it is extra damaging to indigenous businesses for someone to misrepresent their cuisine and culture.
“We only have one shot. This guy is trying to make money off National Indigenous Month and FIFA, trying to do a quick cash grab against our culture using subpar products; it is completely insulting.”
As of Friday, Indigenous Kitchen, which also runs under several other names, has a closure order from Vancouver Coastal Health on its door, pointing to unsanitary conditions.
“Hopefully, if he does reopen, he opens under another gig. Just leave us out of it,” Cook said.
CityNews reached out to Indigenous Kitchen but did not get a response.