“Last Saturday, around closing time, a group of racists were doing what they do best and decided to shut the power off to our dining room while our last guests were enjoying their dinner,” Shanti wrote, per The Citizen Times. “They then ran away, like cowards, when confronted by a guest and an employee but not before outfitting our entrance with this disgusting sticker.”

According to The Citizen Times, police said they’re investigating the vandalism. The racist sticker shows an illustration of four buildings and a caption on the bottom that reads, “How to ruin a white city.” Above the buildings, there is a hand holding a can which is labeled with the N-word. Small drawings of people can be seen falling out of the can and dropping down onto the buildings. The Star Of David is also drawn on the hand.

Shanti said her wife Meaghan had tears in her eyes after she saw the sticker.

“The idea that a group of guys was just walking down the street and happened to hit our restaurant, the only Black-owned business in an area that presents as very white, is ridiculous,” Shanti told Eater Carolinas, an online food news outlet. “There is nothing from the street that indicates we are Black-owned, so they did their research and targeted us with their racist message.”

The restaurant, which celebrates Black culture and history, features iconic covers of Jet magazine as part of its decor. Speaking to Eater, Shanti said she was in Raleigh, North Carolina at the time of the crime, but her wife was at the restaurant. A group of men who were seen near the restaurant counted down from three and pulled the lever on the external power breaker, Shanti said. She also said the perpetrators fled the scene after an employee yelled at them, but one of them came back to switch the power back on. 

Shanti was featured on the popular Bravo show, Top Chef, in 2022. The North Carolina chef has received wide recognition for her skills. Her accolades include a James Beard Award nomination, one of the premier awards for culinary arts.

Previously, Shanti served as the executive chef of Benne on Eagle, an establishment located in the historically Black neighborhood of Asheville known as The Block. Jonathan McCoy, Director of the Center for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, raves about Shanti’s skills.

“She was a Top Chef contestant. James Beard finalist. World-renowned, people talking about how when they come to Asheville, they want to eat at her place,” McCoy told The Citizen Times. “Her character of a chef is top notch, but because of her color, her gender and sexual orientation, she is judged to be less.”

Shanti is grateful for the people who have shown their support after hearing about the vandalism at the restaurant. According to Eater, one customer approached Shanti and said, “I just want to welcome you and thank you for being here.”

Some others, however, are doubting whether the restaurant was ever vandalized.

“That anyone would think I would craft something like that as a marketing ploy is sickening,” Shanti said to Eater. “We have gotten plenty of press and have been crushing our numbers since we opened. This is a 20-seat restaurant. It’s not hard to fill it.”

Shanti reminds the community that even Asheville, a city considered to be progressive, has a lot of work to be done when comes to fighting against racism.

“We are not immune to racism because we live in a beautiful utopia of mountains and art,” she told Eater. “I think it’s important to put this out there to remind people this is still here and we need to live up to our progressive reputation.”