A Derbyshire café has been the recipient of a letter threatening legal action and a victim of graffiti, all because of the “punny” name of one of its sandwiches. The Bridge Bakehouse in Whaley Bridge offers freshly baked, handmade goods including cakes, pastries and sandwiches, one of which has been branded an “insult to Christianity”.
The café boasts a menu of sandwiches, most of which have playful names, including “Don’t go bacon my heart”, “Are you chicken me out?” and “Get ya goat, you’ve pulled”. These are just a small selection of the puns on offer at this popular Peak District business.
However the name which has sparked this entire saga is a caramelised onion, onion chutney, mature cheddar and mozzarella sandwich, dubbed the “cheesus Christ“. The sandwich has been on the menu since last year, but in the last week the sandwich name on the cafe’s outdoor menu has been painted over in white paint and the business has been sent a letter claiming to be from a Christian group threatening legal action.
The letter reads: “Our members have instructed us to write to you to ask you to remove the sandwich name Cheesus Christ from your menu. Although our clients would prefer to [settle] this matter out of the courts, there is clearly a case to answer here.
“Everyone in the United Kingdom has the right to their beliefs without fear of discrimination. It is a basic human right that all institutions, including bakeries, have a duty to abide by and protect.”
The person behind the letter calls the sandwich an ‘insult to Christianity’ and demands the following steps be taken:
- “Issue a public apology on the cafe’s platforms, e.g. social media, website etc within 5 working days of the date of the letter.
- “Remove the sandwich name and all mention of it from the cafe’s menus within 10 working days of the date of the letter.
- “Remove any mention of the name Cheesus Christ from the sign standing on the Whaley Bridge Parish within 30 working days of the date on this letter.
- “Make a donation of £300 to the Holy Trinity Church within 30 working days of the date of the letter.”
The letter claimed to be from the religious organisation Christian Concern, but this was later confirmed to be fake by Bridge Bakehouse on its social media. A spokesperson for the cafe said: “So after investigations, it turns out the bizarre blackmail letter had nothing to do with Trinity Church or ‘Christian Concern’.
“It seems it was from an anonymous disgruntled member of the local community. We would still love to find out who it was and if they had anything to do with the recent vandalism of our menu board.”
In reference to the graffiti on the menu board, the cafe responded in good humour, posting on social media: “To whoever has tried to cover up the ‘Cheesus Christ’ sandwich on our outdoor menu board with white paint can you please not?
https://www.facebook.com/TheBridgeBakehouse/
﹡The bakery is located about 20 miles SE of Manchester
