Protesters Demand Saffron Colonial "Stop Romanticizing Colonialism"

Last week, much like Vasco da Gama, we discovered* a new British colonialism-themed restaurant on North Williams called Saffron Colonial, and questioned and questioned the wisdom of bringing a cocktail called the "Plantation Press" to a rapidly gentrifying street.

[*Eater was there first.]

Sally Krantz, owner of Saffron Colonial, told us she isn't a racist and she doesn't understand the backlash, saying: "I'm not trying to incense anybody. I'm just trying to make food." She added, "The people who own the Rheinlander aren't promoting Nazism, and the people who own the Screen Door aren't promoting slavery."

The next day Krantz doubled down on the name of her business during an interview with The Oregonian, saying: "A lot of people are confused…Colonial is used on a lot of things: to describe a period of time with food, architecture and literature…It seems like some people have confused that word with American slavery."

The story, and Krantz's responses, touched a bit of a nerve. Commenters on our site, on both sides of the aisle, got as angry as they could while remaining civil (shoutout to our new commenting system), saying things like: "Did I also miss your self-righteous tirade against Best Baguette and how French imperialism is so bitter, it ruined your boba tea?" and "It's a pretty offensive name, and anyone who's aware of history would be justifiably upset. I could never bring myself to eat there."

Jezebel wrote it up, and comedian Hari Kondabolu tweeted about it:

A woman named Stephanie Dünx posted an open letter to Krantz on Medium, writing, "While molasses cookies and sausage rolls may come to mind for you when you think of British colonialism, many of us associate it with forced religious conversion/cultural erasure, famine."

Dünx, who says in her post that her parents are from the former British colony of Jamaica, added, "You may argue that those days are long gone, but India has been independent for less than 70 years, which means there are still people alive today who have experienced the harms of British colonial rule."

On Saturday, a group called "Stop Romanticizing Colonialism" staged a protest at the restaurant. It was, in some ways, a very Portland affair:

Bucket drums were left at home, and according to accounts on Facebook, about 40 people met up at In Other Words feminist community center, made signs and then walked to Saffron Colonial, where they met up with about 20 more people.

One Facebooker, Cory Lira, wrote: "The restaurant had taken down it's large hanging sign with 'Saffron Colonial' on it and had changed the menu in the windows to say just 'Saffron' but still featured menu items like 'Lloyds of London' and 'Tortolan Plantation Press'." At that point, according to the post, Dünx attempted to deliver her letter to Krantz and "Things got tense quickly."

Another poster, Sarah Elise, wrote: "We also asked [Krantz] about the Churchill brunch and mentioned how horrific the conditions in India were for the Indian people when the country was under his reign in WW2. She vehemently claimed that Indians were aligned with the Nazis during WW2 and that is why they were starved (obv. not true)."

Krantz, who responded to us over email, has a slightly different account of the protest. She wrote: "The gathering itself seemed to be a way for that small group to air lots of grievances that have nothing to do with my business at all. One woman was screaming at me that she was Native American and they were pushed out of this area, another woman was screaming that I'm not from Portland (I am), and no one had any right to lease any of the commercial premises on Williams and we should all leave immediately."

Krantz says she is happy to meet with protesters. "When I stated that I was more than happy to have a dialogue and asked if Stephanie had a suggestion for a different name, I had hurls of abuse thrown at me for being lazy and getting her to do my job…very few people were willing to actually engage in a dialogue, but preferred to scream abuse at me."

At some point, the police were called:

Dünx wasn't available for comment on Monday. When asked whether she planned to change the name, Krantz said: "I haven't made an active decision on anything regarding the name…If Expatriate wasn't taken I might consider that!"

Willamette Week