I feel like some people need to head over to the “Rave” section of the site instead…
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Ok, just to let everyone know - I am not Ella, or Matt, neither do I have any connections with the family whatsoever. And I am not trying to provoke anyone, or have a go at anyone on this thread. I simply think some arguments are unfair, and are just caused by envy. This is the truth. But whatever the reason for some posts/ comments is, I did not meant to offend anyone. I’m just opening conversations, not creating issues 
Oh please, not the "you are just jealous" argument!Ok, just to let everyone know - I am not Ella, or Matt, neither do I have any connections with the family whatsoever. And I am not trying to provoke anyone, or have a go at anyone on this thread. I simply think some arguments are unfair, and are just caused by envy. This is the truth. But whatever the reason for some posts/ comments is, I did not meant to offend anyone. I’m just opening conversations, not creating issues
There were valid reasons we listed for the criticism we had. They were not "unfair".
Same with people criticising the new restaurant - to respond with "don't go there if you can't afford it" is disrespectful.
There are also wealthy people that don't want to overpay and that live in line with their values.
The “your jealous” argument is pretty silly here on Tattle. In the main people come here because they trusted and followed someone and then start to realise that person is a hypocrite and like to find they aren’t the only person who sees this.Ok, just to let everyone know - I am not Ella, or Matt, neither do I have any connections with the family whatsoever. And I am not trying to provoke anyone, or have a go at anyone on this thread. I simply think some arguments are unfair, and are just caused by envy. This is the truth. But whatever the reason for some posts/ comments is, I did not meant to offend anyone. I’m just opening conversations, not creating issues
I went to Ella’s restaurant as Mr Stardust surprised me and there was plastic in my meal. I got some money off (like a £5er
), but I haven’t left a negative review anywhere despite it making me feel a little sick to see them serving the same meal to other customers right after I’d found the plastic…and if I was jealous of her I probably would have done that considering it’s probably not the best look for the business… But in full honesty the reviews that legitimate customers are leaving are fair enough. The portions were tiny and you can get much nicer meals at other restaurants that are vegan for equivalent value in central London. I went hoping that it would be like Acorn Kitchen use to be in Bath, but the fact is DE’s restaurant wasn’t good. The food was pretty boring apart from the Mac and cheese which was probably the smallest portion I’ve ever had in a restaurant. It was massively overpriced. It’s trying to be a Michelin starred restaurant and failing.And I honestly can’t see how there is any argument other than it being ridiculous for someone to say that they’re a revolutionary and making people feel guilty for eating meat when they A) take long haul flights In a family of 4, plus probably the nanny and B) give absolutely no time for the multitude of barriers that many people face when trying to eat the way she does.It is a privilege to be able to cut out meat and ultra-processed foods from your diet not something to make people feel guilty about if they can’t.
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So basically "I'm not trying to provoke, but you're jealous" 
I wonder if she picked up the new place on a quite reduced rate with covid?
The menu is just a bit confused, some dishes are like high end stuff and others are more cafe like. The rainbow bowl looks good, but everywhere does these now and usually at almost half the price.
Like her range of foods it does seem more profit over health as it's foods she said she wouldn't eat, but now is selling them as they have a high profit margin.
I'd be a bit disappointed with the aubergine slice as a main. So many vegan places to try before I would.
Not sure what these are, but it's a no from me.
I want to try 123V which is around the corner from plants by deliciously Ella
I wonder if she picked up the new place on a quite reduced rate with covid?
The menu is just a bit confused, some dishes are like high end stuff and others are more cafe like. The rainbow bowl looks good, but everywhere does these now and usually at almost half the price.
Like her range of foods it does seem more profit over health as it's foods she said she wouldn't eat, but now is selling them as they have a high profit margin.
I'd be a bit disappointed with the aubergine slice as a main. So many vegan places to try before I would.
Not sure what these are, but it's a no from me.
I want to try 123V which is around the corner from plants by deliciously Ella
I'm definitely not envious. She seems very stressed, endlessly trying to prove herself, overachieving, perfectionist, missing out on precious time with her babies. I'm not envious of any of that. I know how some of that feels and if I had the money she had then I would be slowing right down. But then I guess it all gives her more fodder for her business, right...
Also, the irony - plastic in the food! Oof.
Also, the irony - plastic in the food! Oof.
‘You’re just envious!’
So basic and BORING.
Envy is the driving force behind this entire website then I suppose? Is it ever possible to punch upwards without it being chalked up to envy? If not then how do you tell the difference? I am genuinely curious because assuming we’re all envious of Ella is quite the leap.
Posts here have been so eloquent and reflective about food, sustainability, burnout, work, inherited wealth, privilege, carbon footprints etc etc. But hey… haterz gonna hate! It’s that simple folks
(As an aside I do think some criticism towards Ella generally - in the wider media, not in this thread - could be Tall Poppy Syndrome which is for sure a thing but a distinctly different kettle of fish.)
Like I said… please please do the rest of us a favour and go start a rave thread, save yourself from this toxic vat of envy while you can
So basic and BORING.
Envy is the driving force behind this entire website then I suppose? Is it ever possible to punch upwards without it being chalked up to envy? If not then how do you tell the difference? I am genuinely curious because assuming we’re all envious of Ella is quite the leap.
Posts here have been so eloquent and reflective about food, sustainability, burnout, work, inherited wealth, privilege, carbon footprints etc etc. But hey… haterz gonna hate! It’s that simple folks
(As an aside I do think some criticism towards Ella generally - in the wider media, not in this thread - could be Tall Poppy Syndrome which is for sure a thing but a distinctly different kettle of fish.)
Like I said… please please do the rest of us a favour and go start a rave thread, save yourself from this toxic vat of envy while you can
I’m really sorry, but I am just about to get on my soap box and have a good old rant…
I hate “yOuR oNlY JealOus” arguments. The fact is, I’m privileged and I know it. I’m in my late 20’s yet own my own house. I have a job that pays well and I enjoy. I have disposable income that means I can go to restaurants as expensive as Ella’s and do other things with my friends. None of this is meant as a gloat or whatever, I just mean that I am perfectly happy with the life I have and don’t particularly want Ella’s.
And honestly this is why Ella frustrates me. My household income is higher than the average, and I don’t have any children. Yet eating the way Ella does would be so costly for me. All organic (she has spoken a lot about “the dirty dozen” in the past). No ultra-processed foods etc is incredibly expensive. I do buy organic fruit and veg because of the pesticides ruining the insect population but the only reason I can afford to do this is because I am privileged. I wouldn’t be able to do it if I had 3 children for example and I needed to pay for their nurseries, clothing etc. I wouldn’t be able to do it if I was earning 18k and having to support myself fully.
There is a major issue in our food supply chain that means that eating majority fruit and veg diets, especially organic, is out of reach for most people. The average household in the UK is 2.4 people and the average food spend is £97 per week, which includes eating out. A meal at Ella’s restaurant will set you back £70/£80 for two people. That’s nearly the average households entire weekly food spend on one meal.
Fruit and veg cost nearly 50% more per calorie than ultra processed foods. If you have a limited amount of money to dedicate to food, of course you will opt for buying a readymeal for £2 instead of spending your income on multiple ingredients to make a meal.
That is completely forgetting about people who are time poor, and people who do not have education on the pros and cons of eating processed foods. It’s also a complete disregard for the fact that companies like Coke, McDonalds, Dominos and other major food manufacturers spend billions manipulating food to make people crave it. The Van Tulleken Dr Brothers have done an absolutely fantastic podcast on this which actually discusses all of the barriers people face.
For Ella to preach about the environmental impacts of meat and processed foods etc, is in my opinion really bleeping crappy. Simply because she does absolutely nothing to alter the obstacles that exist for most people. She has 2million followers on Instagram, she could easily be running campaigns to help improve public health diet. But all she wants to do is latch on to the latest popular thing to say so her audience boots her ego.
She doesn’t give a duck about the environment. She’s made it perfectly clear her diet was completely based on health benefits. She doesn’t give a duck about people otherwise she would acknowledge and try to help people who can’t access what she has…
All in all, slating Ella doesn’t mean you’re jealous of her. I slate Boris Johnson all the time and I’m not jealous of him
I hate “yOuR oNlY JealOus” arguments. The fact is, I’m privileged and I know it. I’m in my late 20’s yet own my own house. I have a job that pays well and I enjoy. I have disposable income that means I can go to restaurants as expensive as Ella’s and do other things with my friends. None of this is meant as a gloat or whatever, I just mean that I am perfectly happy with the life I have and don’t particularly want Ella’s.
And honestly this is why Ella frustrates me. My household income is higher than the average, and I don’t have any children. Yet eating the way Ella does would be so costly for me. All organic (she has spoken a lot about “the dirty dozen” in the past). No ultra-processed foods etc is incredibly expensive. I do buy organic fruit and veg because of the pesticides ruining the insect population but the only reason I can afford to do this is because I am privileged. I wouldn’t be able to do it if I had 3 children for example and I needed to pay for their nurseries, clothing etc. I wouldn’t be able to do it if I was earning 18k and having to support myself fully.
There is a major issue in our food supply chain that means that eating majority fruit and veg diets, especially organic, is out of reach for most people. The average household in the UK is 2.4 people and the average food spend is £97 per week, which includes eating out. A meal at Ella’s restaurant will set you back £70/£80 for two people. That’s nearly the average households entire weekly food spend on one meal.
Fruit and veg cost nearly 50% more per calorie than ultra processed foods. If you have a limited amount of money to dedicate to food, of course you will opt for buying a readymeal for £2 instead of spending your income on multiple ingredients to make a meal.
That is completely forgetting about people who are time poor, and people who do not have education on the pros and cons of eating processed foods. It’s also a complete disregard for the fact that companies like Coke, McDonalds, Dominos and other major food manufacturers spend billions manipulating food to make people crave it. The Van Tulleken Dr Brothers have done an absolutely fantastic podcast on this which actually discusses all of the barriers people face.
For Ella to preach about the environmental impacts of meat and processed foods etc, is in my opinion really bleeping crappy. Simply because she does absolutely nothing to alter the obstacles that exist for most people. She has 2million followers on Instagram, she could easily be running campaigns to help improve public health diet. But all she wants to do is latch on to the latest popular thing to say so her audience boots her ego.
She doesn’t give a duck about the environment. She’s made it perfectly clear her diet was completely based on health benefits. She doesn’t give a duck about people otherwise she would acknowledge and try to help people who can’t access what she has…
All in all, slating Ella doesn’t mean you’re jealous of her. I slate Boris Johnson all the time and I’m not jealous of him
You phrased it so well.There is a major issue in our food supply chain that means that eating majority fruit and veg diets, especially organic, is out of reach for most people. The average household in the UK is 2.4 people and the average food spend is £97 per week, which includes eating out. A meal at Ella’s restaurant will set you back £70/£80 for two people. That’s nearly the average households entire weekly food spend on one meal.
Fruit and veg cost nearly 50% more per calorie than ultra processed foods. If you have a limited amount of money to dedicate to food, of course you will opt for buying a readymeal for £2 instead of spending your income on multiple ingredients to make a meal.
(...)
For Ella to preach about the environmental impacts of meat and processed foods etc, is in my opinion really bleeping crappy. Simply because she does absolutely nothing to alter the obstacles that exist for most people. She has 2million followers on Instagram, she could easily be running campaigns to help improve public health diet. But all she wants to do is latch on to the latest popular thing to say so her audience boots her ego.
She doesn’t give a duck about the environment. She’s made it perfectly clear her diet was completely based on health benefits. She doesn’t give a duck about people otherwise she would acknowledge and try to help people who can’t access what she has…
All in all, slating Ella doesn’t mean you’re jealous of her. I slate Boris Johnson all the time and I’m not jealous of him
There are many things she could do if she wouldn't be that profit oriented:
1) Make vegan food accessible and enjoyable
- Jame Oliver did this "school dinner" campaign to encourage kids to eat healthily, she could also do something like this. Introduce vegan days at school? Sponsor vegan dinners for the elderly? Give free lectures?
- Instead of running an expensive restaurant in Bond Street maybe operating a cafe that offers cheaper meals that are filling, a vegan lunch bowl for six pounds or something like this
- Maybe not put almond butter in everything, but identify more affordable options
2) Promote local food
- Instead of shilling her own products she could promote local farmers to give them more visibility
- Promote recipes with more local ingredients instead of ingredients that need to be imported (avocados, bananas, etc). Yes, it is more difficult, but that's the skill
3) Donate money to worthwhile causes
4) Change her life style
- Staycations
- Be more minimalistic and down to earth, create less waste
- Volunteer
The bottom line is: this is not their style.
They want to create a brand to appeal to fairly well off health oriented people and the environment stuff was just a bandwagon that she jumped on to make more money.
yeah regarding number 1 she could make a vegan cafe with a cheap set menu type thing in a less well off area and basically as a not for profit, when I used to live in Rome and they had something like that there, it was great. All she is doing is re-inforcing the view that many people hold of vegan food being expensive/inaccessible, which really ti doesn't have to be, pulses etc are much cheaper than meat or fish
Yes! And that vegan food doesn't fill you up and leaves you hungry.
I think what can often me overlooked as well is how difficult it is for downtrodden people not to reach for processed food. I’m an emotional eater & ive been quite fortunate in life. I can imagine if my life had limited opportunities I’d be going heavy on the crisps. They don’t call it comfort food for nothing.
Totally agree, I really like Jamie Oliver but his series in Rotheram of the food school thing was difficult to watch at times, clearly his heart was in the best place, but he didn;t understand that if you are going through MH issues/financial worries (which clearly exacerbate MH issues), cooking a good meal from scratch when you are (emotionally or physically) exhausted is a huge task.
I really think, though, we need to have cooking lessons in schools again, I did Home Ec at school (about 20 years ago (!) but we literally learned mostly things about food marketing and cooking various types of pastry/desserts. I don't recall ever learning how to make anything as basic as a tomato pasta sauce/cooking vegetables (luckily I was interested in cooking anyway so learned independently)
Yes, I agree.
Agree with having cooking lessons in school. I didn’t have any. My mother was a reasonable cook and taught me a few things like scrambled eggs, how to cook a hamburger under a grill but she used a lot of convenience freezer food including TV dinners, frozen pizzas and boil in the bag food. We also went out to eat at least once or twice a week including Burger places and pancake houses or buffets for brunch on Sundays after church. I don’t remember her making homemade porridge ever but she had a lot of boxed cereal including plain kinds but also stuff like Lucky Charms. She had a lot of fresh fruit for us including grapefruit and melon but those were often deemed ‘diet’ food to have if you were watching your weight, along with cottage cheese. Poached egg on dry toast along with a side of tinned tomatoes was a weight watching breakfast along with half a grapefruit or grapefruit segments that came in a jar.
A ‘diet’ dinner was a grilled naked hamburger with a side of cottage cheese and green beans.
I loved muesli with fresh fruit and yogurt or else had a yogurt and apple.
Travelling introduced me to a lot of different ways to eat.
I still love all kinds of tomatoes on toast but it needs to be buttered.
A ‘diet’ dinner was a grilled naked hamburger with a side of cottage cheese and green beans.
I loved muesli with fresh fruit and yogurt or else had a yogurt and apple.
Travelling introduced me to a lot of different ways to eat.
I still love all kinds of tomatoes on toast but it needs to be buttered.
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Very good points. A family member is a high profile chef, he got a contract to do some promotion for a big supermarket chain. I think it included recipes. He said the younger generations don’t basic cooking skills, they don’t know what to do with a packet of mince etc. Personally I think this is a gross failure on the part of the education system.
I saw a Channel 4 programme on child poverty & it showed 3 year olds having to have multiple teeth pulled. It also included a younger mother who was shown how to cook on the programme. She made an inedible looking pizza for a toddler & was so insanely proud of herself post the cooking lessons. Its sad.
I saw a Channel 4 programme on child poverty & it showed 3 year olds having to have multiple teeth pulled. It also included a younger mother who was shown how to cook on the programme. She made an inedible looking pizza for a toddler & was so insanely proud of herself post the cooking lessons. Its sad.
I couldn’t agree with this more.
The fact is, when Ella preaches about how much of a difference she’s making to planet and how we should we all be vegan, she has no idea how many people in this country live.
She needs to get off her bleeping pedestal and either shut up and stop trying to make people feel guilty, or realise she’s in an incredibly privileged position where she really could make a huge difference to peoples lives if she wanted to take some time our of her ever so busy schedule and actually do something to help the health of others and the planet. She would be in such a great position to do something because of her influence and connections to people high up in politics. She could use her connections to do such good, instead she just uses it to flog imported blended dates and nuts.
(edit: grammar)
There’s an Irish vegan cook book author named Rosanna Davison who did a segment on morning tv about cooking affordable vegan meals using the ingredients sourced from Aldi. Could be something for her to consider.
She has a good blog and her books seem to be interesting as well:
Rosanna Davison Nutrition - Healthier Lifestyles
Now for the first time, I’m bringing my tried and tested, scientific evidence-based approach to food, health and wellness to the public sphere.
www.rosannadavisonnutrition.com
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