Tom Bailey

Memphis Commercial Appeal

It's the third day in, and the effects of the digital storm have not subsided for Imagine Vegan Cafe.

At noon Friday, a newspaper reporter waits for an interview as Kristie Jeffrey cooks orders for a couple of the 19 diners in the main room.

At 12:42, the reporter still waits as a Health Department inspector, wearing a white lab coat and carrying a clipboard, pays a special call, even though the Cooper-Young restaurant scored a 98 with no violations on the last inspection in April.

But health officials obviously are responding like so many others to a social media storm.

Going viral were a diner's criticisms in an online Google review that the owners' 22-month-old child not only had run around naked in the dining area for 15 minutes but had bent over to expose her rectum and stood on a table with her dirty feet.

In addition, the owners' then-5-year-old Madalynn, now 6, had further disturbed the diner by "yodeling'' and "staring,'' the critic wrote.

At 1:15 Friday, a TV news crew comes calling.

Owners Adam and Kristie Jeffrey are generous with their time despite the fuss.

Adam, a 40-year-old musician, says that they are potty-training Aspen. And they often leave her in diapers to help that process.

The toddler thinks it's a fun game to take off her diapers, which she did the other day before running from the back to the dining area without the parents' permission, he says.

The online review presented the incident as if "she's just allowed to walk around (naked)... and that's not the case at all,'' Adam says while holding a napping Aspen in his arms.

"This was a very rare incident. It's not allowed. It's not something that we do. We don't just say, 'Hey, naked baby running around the restaurant.' That's ridiculous. But it happened.

"But no one said anything to us. No one said, 'This has disturbed us. Is this something you do on a regular basis?' They just wrote a bad review. And for us that feels like drama.

"In addition to that... The person who wrote the review also complained about our 5-year-old daughter who was out here singing. She described it as 'yodeling'.

"... That's a big part of who we are. The kids may be out here making noise, they might be singing,'' he said.

The cafe website and menus for years have described for customers what the experience will be like at Imagine Vegan Cafe.

It's a place "where children can act like children,'' the message states.

"Please try to understand that we are a family owned and operated community. We are not a cookie cut, corporate business...,'' the description states. "Thus your experience may vary from visit to visit... Sometimes there may be children running around your table, singing very loudly... So please leave your expectations at the door.''

Still, much discussion on social media and otherwise has focused on the strong online response Kristie Jeffrey wrote.

Instead of apologizing and then staying quiet, Kristie wrote, "These are my children she is talking about. She's complaining about our five-year-old coming over and talking to her, and our 21-month-old.

"... If you are uncomfortable with a naked baby then do not come to our restaurant. Periodically she will not have a diaper on and that is life,'' Kristie wrote.

The Commercial Appeal spoke Friday to a marketing expert and another Memphis restaurateur to get their reaction to Kristie's response.

"In cases like that, the more that people try to say, the deeper they go into it, the more they try to apologize or explain, the more it prolongs the incident,'' said veteran marketing consultant John Malmo.

After reading the self-description the cafe puts on its website and menu, Malmo said, "The best thing I think is to say... 'We're sorry that this bothered you, but it's not unexpected in our restaurant'. I don't know that I'd say anything else.''

Mac Edwards, owner of The Farmer and Brooks Pharm2Fork restaurants, says the Jeffreys have the right to respond how they want to restaurant critics. But he adds, "And then there are the consequences.''

"I was taught a long time ago about that moment between inclination and action; it's called grace. Sometimes you've got to take a breath,'' Edwards said.

Kristie Jeffrey hardly has time to breathe during lunch on Friday. Business has been brisk since the uproar started. Customers have provided support.

The 35-year-old former airline attendant did not keep quiet for one main reason. "Because it affected my children,'' she says after finally emerging from the kitchen.

"We get bad reviews all the time. Bad reviews don't bother me at all. I welcome them...

"But when you start making false accusations against my children, that's when I lost it. I don't work for a corporation. This is my business. You're not going to talk about my children and get away with it,'' she says.

At 2:09 p.m., the Health Department emails results of Friday's lunchtime inspection to reporters who've been calling the agency.

"Observation: No child found in nude state. All are properly dressed. No children found running around. No child/children found in food prep/cook area.

"Four children present. Age range is 22 (months) to 15 years. 22 mo. old observed sleep in father's arm... (Other) children in rear storeroom watching TV.

"Routing food temperature taken indicates all foods in proper temp.

"Cold: Slaw 41F, tomatoes 41F

"Hot: Black beans 141 F, black-eyed peas 141 F.

"Close complaint.''