Dear friends, 

 This has been an unusual past couple of weeks for Rebel Cheese. We know most in the community have the best of intentions, but unfortunately, there has also been a wide stream of misinformation, falsehoods, and truly hurtful comments circulating about our restaurant and fellow team members after we had to reduce the size of our restaurant team. We wanted to officially address this moment and try to help clarify some of the recent misconceptions, as these past weeks have caused a lot of confusion and hurt for a lot of people and our community.

This was not a decision that was made lightly, nor one we personally wanted to make. Like any small business, Rebel Cheese runs on ever-fluctuating margins throughout the year, and over the recent months, we’ve experienced a reduction of customers at our restaurant. Combined with historically slower summer traffic, our restaurant is not able to sustain the same level of staffing or open-hours as prior. 

We care deeply about each and every member of our team and have always strived to be a good employer and make Rebel Cheese a meaningful place to work. Since we first opened our doors, we’ve been intentional members of Good Work Austin—a local community group dedicated to creating a more equitable and sustainable food industry in our city—and we’ve worked hard to offer team members health benefits and perks that aren’t typical at a bistro, because the health & happiness of our team is important to us. Our bistro employee average hourly wage including tips since the beginning of the year is over $21 — and while most restaurants aim for 20-30% employee costs, our recent ranges have exceeded this significantly. There have been periods recently when our restaurant revenue was even lower than during COVID. Unfortunately, we are also not unique in this, as restaurants and small businesses across the city are experiencing the same drop in patronage and financial challenges in the global economy.

 But our mission and purpose have always remained the same. Six years ago, my husband Fred and I had a dream to bring gourmet vegan foods and cheeses to the Austin area. We had never owned a restaurant before but felt compelled to pursue something difficult that aligned with our values as vegans and lifelong foodies, so we took that first step on an uncharted path. Ultimately, we created Rebel Cheese on a passion and with a mission to do good. 

 It’s important for us to share that despite the support and our journey of growth over these last 5 years, we are still a very small business. We are not highly-connected restauranteurs or untouchable CEOs of some big, bloated corporation. We never have been. We come from humble beginnings, blue-collar jobs, and Fred still maintains a second job to support our own personal living expenses. We’re ordinary people on the ground with our team every single day, working around the clock to build a dream not just for ourselves, but to be a part of a bigger change for good. That has always been our guidepost.  

For us, the events of these past two weeks have been very hard to process. It’s difficult to put into words. Seeing the extreme vitriol from total strangers, the bandwagoning without the slightest bit of skepticism or fact-checking, personal harassment, threats of physical violence, and sheer hate that’s been directed toward us, our team members, our customers—even messages attacking our daughter—it’s been heartbreaking.

 We’re incredibly saddened by how this situation has negatively impacted our local community in Austin, and within the vegan community specifically. It hurts to see hate directed towards our current and former team members alike, our families, and even customers. 

At this time, we are taking our daily restaurant hours day-by-day based on our team members’ wishes, sense of safety and our sense of security for our customers (we will update our hours on our online listings). Unfortunately, right now, it’s hard to even say what we may do long-term. Though Rebel began as a restaurant, since COVID (and as a way of surviving it) our Rebel brand expanded to include e-commerce and wholesale, employing another 50 team members in north Austin, many of whom have been with us for several years. We’ve kept the bistro and have enjoyed serving our customers because we felt it meant a lot to the Austin community but, to be fully transparent—given the economic challenges and present circumstances—we have to evaluate whether or not our bistro is sustainable. 

I know this message will be met with mixed responses, but either way, we greatly appreciate you reading, and appreciate the care and passion you have for our world. And thank you for your support of Rebel Cheese—whether past, present, or future.

 With love,

Kirsten & Fred