M. Wells Dinette Restaurant Pulls Horse Meat From Menu

Looks like M. Wells' owners Hugue Dufour and Sarah Obraitis will be putting their horse-meat cooking skills on hold; the former owners of Long Island City darling M. Wells announced that their new restaurant at MOMA PS1 will no longer serve horse meat.

"Horse meat is off the menu at the Dinette, and it is not likely to return," the restaurant said in a statement. "We took it off because it upset so many people, which truly surprised us. That is not the effect we look for in our food, so away it goes."

Dufour and Obraitis had announced they would serve horse meat tartare in an interview with New York Magazine, and since then animal rights advocates have launched petitions against the restaurant and museum. The New York Times reports that both the restaurateurs and the museum have received letters demanding they stop serving the meat; Dufour and Obraitis say they have been receiving threatening messages.

Dufour was planning on obtaining horse meat from a slaughterhouse in Canada, where he previously bought horsemeat for a foie gras and horsemeat bologna sandwich at the Great GoogaMooga. According to the statement, they sold more than 5,000 sandwiches that weekend.

"It was certainly not our intent to insult American culture," the statement said. "However, it must be said, part of living in a city like New York means learning to tolerate different customs. If our critics can forgive us, we invite them in for a drink and a bite of whatever animal they do consume (if any). At any rate, we cry uncle."