Whole Foods Market Slammed Over Name of Restaurant

Kelly Kim and her husband wanted the name of their new pan-Asian restaurant to stand out, eschewing bland or stereotypical phrases, like bamboo, dragon and lotus.

Then it hit them. Yellow Fever.

“That’s memorable,” Kim recalls saying to her husband Michael before they opened their first location in late 2013, in a Saturday interview with The Washington Post.

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The announcement triggered a national outcry on social media, with many criticizing the name’s racist undertones.

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Yellow fever is a mosquito-borne infection that kills thousands every year, mostly in Africa, and named for the jaundice hemorrhage that the virus produces. But the phrase is also a common reference to a term associated with a white man’s sexual fascination with Asian women.

Kim, who said that before this week the name wasn’t an issue, did not take the term to have an overtly sexual or even negative meaning, adding that it is more nuanced than what critics have said.

The term implies “an attraction or affinity of Asian people or Asian things,” such as Korean pop music or karaoke, she said. “I never took it to a have deeper meaning. … It’s a little tongue in cheek, but I never saw it as offensive or racist or anti-feminist,” she said.

Kim, who is also the executive chef, said she discussed the charged nature of her restaurant’s name with Whole Foods, but could not recall if her partners or the company raised the issue.

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“First off, change the name. Do you think it’s cool to use Racial term to yourself? Do you think it’s OK if Asian are calling themselves with that name?” one reviewer wrote in October 2016, leaving one star.

Another diner struggled to reconcile the name with her affection for the food.

“Ugh the name of this place skeeves me out,” a woman said in an August five-star review, “but I’ll be damned if they don’t make a tasty bowl.”

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Revoltingest said:

Some people have never objected to a vicious disease being called "yellow fever".
But the same people are deeply offended that a restaurant is named "Yellow Fever".
Pbbbttttt!

Wait til they see my new eateries named after diseases....
Black Death
White Nose Syndrome
Pink Eye
German Measles

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Stevicus said:

Well, I guess they could have named it in honor of Deng Xiaoping and called it "Deng Fever."

A poultry restaurant called "Chicken Pox" would be popular. A steakhouse called "The Mad Cow."

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Revoltingest said:

You are a terrible terrible person!

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Stevicus said:

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Stevicus said:

Whole Foods is slammed over Yellow Fever restaurant. The owner says it’s not racist.

Seems like it's raising some hackles. Some are upset that the name is racist, while others are put off by a restaurant named after a disease. Yet many reviews are saying the food is good.

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Stevicus said:

Whole Foods is slammed over Yellow Fever restaurant. The owner says it’s not racist.

Seems like it's raising some hackles. Some are upset that the name is racist, while others are put off by a restaurant named after a disease. Yet many reviews are saying the food is good.

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The announcement triggered a national outcry on social media, with many criticizing the name’s racist undertones.

Click to expand...

Stevicus said:

Whole Foods is slammed over Yellow Fever restaurant. The owner says it’s not racist.

Seems like it's raising some hackles. Some are upset that the name is racist, while others are put off by a restaurant named after a disease. Yet many reviews are saying the food is good.

Click to expand...

Revoltingest said:

I like how Hank Azaria offered to stop voicing Apu on The Simpsons.
South Asians are offended because he's a stereotype.
But what of....
Groundskeeper Willie offending Scots?
Captain Horatio Mcallister offending sailors?
Waylan Smithers offending gays?
Patty Bouvier offending lesbians?
Hans Moleman (aka Ralph Melish), Abe Simpson, Jasper Beardly & everyone at Springfield Retirement Castle offending the elderly?
Krusty The Clown (Herschel Krustofski) offending Jews?
Comic Book Guy (Jeff Albertson) offending neckbeards?
Milhouse Van Houten offending nerds?
Lisa Simpson offending SJWs?
Rainier Wolfcastle (aka McBain) & Uter Zorker offending Germans?
Carl Carlson offending Icelanders?
Chief Clancy Wiggum offending police?
Ralph Wiggum offending retarded people?
Crazy Cat Lady offending the mentally ill?
Birchibald Barlow offending Republicans?
Bumblebee Man offending Mexicans?
Ned Flanders & Reverend Lovejoy offending Christians?
Fat Tony & Gino Terwilliger offending Italians?
Professor John Frink offending scientists?
Cookie Kwan offending Asians?
Nelson Muntz & his mother offending the poor?
Mayor "Diamond Joe" Quimby offending Kennedys?
Cletus & Brandine Spuckler offending hill folk?

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SomeRandom said:

Aww I like Apu. I'm half Indian and I've never really met an Indian who was upset with Apu. He's just so likeable.

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Revoltingest said:

I like how Hank Azaria offered to stop voicing Apu on The Simpsons.
South Asians are offended because he's a stereotype.
But what of....
Groundskeeper Willie offending Scots?
Captain Horatio Mcallister offending sailors?
Waylan Smithers offending gays?
Patty Bouvier offending lesbians?
Hans Moleman (aka Ralph Melish), Abe Simpson, Jasper Beardly & everyone at Springfield Retirement Castle offending the elderly?
Krusty The Clown (Herschel Krustofski) offending Jews?
Comic Book Guy (Jeff Albertson) offending neckbeards?
Milhouse Van Houten offending nerds?
Lisa Simpson offending SJWs?
Rainier Wolfcastle (aka McBain) & Uter Zorker offending Germans?
Carl Carlson offending Icelanders?
Chief Clancy Wiggum offending police?
Ralph Wiggum offending retarded people?
Crazy Cat Lady offending the mentally ill?
Birchibald Barlow offending Republicans?
Bumblebee Man offending Mexicans?
Ned Flanders & Reverend Lovejoy offending Christians?
Fat Tony & Gino Terwilliger offending Italians?
Professor John Frink offending scientists?
Cookie Kwan offending Asians?
Nelson Muntz & his mother offending the poor?
Mayor "Diamond Joe" Quimby offending Kennedys?
Cletus & Brandine Spuckler offending hill folk?

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Stevicus said:

I remember a review of the very first episode of The Simpsons, which the reviewer didn't like because they made fun of opera. So, they offended opera fans from the get go.

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Revoltingest said:

I like how Hank Azaria offered to stop voicing Apu on The Simpsons.
South Asians are offended because he's a stereotype.
But what of....
Groundskeeper Willie offending Scots?
Captain Horatio Mcallister offending sailors?
Waylan Smithers offending gays?
Patty Bouvier offending lesbians?
Hans Moleman (aka Ralph Melish), Abe Simpson, Jasper Beardly & everyone at Springfield Retirement Castle offending the elderly?
Krusty The Clown (Herschel Krustofski) offending Jews?
Comic Book Guy (Jeff Albertson) offending neckbeards?
Milhouse Van Houten offending nerds?
Lisa Simpson offending SJWs?
Rainier Wolfcastle (aka McBain) & Uter Zorker offending Germans?
Carl Carlson offending Icelanders?
Chief Clancy Wiggum offending police?
Ralph Wiggum offending retarded people?
Crazy Cat Lady offending the mentally ill?
Birchibald Barlow offending Republicans?
Bumblebee Man offending Mexicans?
Ned Flanders & Reverend Lovejoy offending Christians?
Fat Tony & Gino Terwilliger offending Italians?
Professor John Frink offending scientists?
Cookie Kwan offending Asians?
Nelson Muntz & his mother offending the poor?
Mayor "Diamond Joe" Quimby offending Kennedys?
Cletus & Brandine Spuckler offending hill folk?

Click to expand...