A New Jersey singer-songwriter, Antonia Sinbaldi, expressed outrage after an upscale restaurant served her birthday dessert with an offensive message referencing her wheelchair. Sinbaldi was celebrating her 29th birthday at Blu on the Hudson in Weehawken, NJ, in June when she ordered an Apple Tart Tatin. The message, written in sauce, read 'Happy Wheel Chair Birthday.'
Sinbaldi shared a video of the moment on Instagram, questioning the reasoning behind the message. She stated, 'Not to complain about a fairly new restaurant in my town, but why would you make my dessert say this?' Sinbaldi, who uses a motorized wheelchair and requires a ventilator due to a cervical spinal injury from a car accident at age 2, described her physical reaction to the message as immediate and distressing.
After the incident, Sinbaldi's party confronted the restaurant management, which offered complimentary drinks as an apology. Sinbaldi described the situation as offensive, stating, 'This whole thing doesn’t sound real.'
The restaurant issued a statement apologizing for the incident, explaining that the message was a misunderstanding among staff. They clarified that the term 'wheelchair' was used to identify the guest for whom the dessert was intended. The management emphasized that there was no malicious intent behind the notation but acknowledged the hurt it caused.
Sinbaldi criticized the restaurant's response as insufficient, asserting that her disability should not define her identity. She urged others to be mindful of how they reference disabilities, stating, 'Don’t bring my disability [up] in every sentence.'