New York Restaurant Finds Itself at Centre of Bizarre ‘Putin Burger’ Scandal
9th October 2017
Just across the street from Madison Square Garden, Lucy’s Cantina Royale has found itself at the centre of an odd controversy after Russian state-owned media published claims last week that the restaurant had sold a burger special named after Vladimir Putin on his birthday.
“Lucy’s Cantina Royale was subject of a hoax involving Vladimir Putin’s birthday. Our restaurant has never celebrated Vladimir Putin’s birthday in any way, shape, or form, and has never offered a ‘Putin Burger’,” a statement provided by manager Tim Ryan to The Independent reads.
I wasn’t aware that Putin was into Third World food.
Russian state-owned media claimed in a video last week that a waitress had told them that the restaurant had put together a five-patty burger that weighed about “1,952 grammes” — a reference to the year Mr Putin was born — to mark his 65th birthday on Saturday. The video segment, which was clearly filmed at least in part in the restaurant, shows a waitress delivering a mammoth burger to a customer and talking about how it’s made.
I’d be proud to have such a creation named after me.
Mr Ryan said that a burger is available in the restaurant, which offers a variety of Mexican fare, but that it is named after their chef — not the Russian president.