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Photo by Marni Jill Ugar

“We are not surprised by the green pass issued as we have always been in excellent standing with TPH since the day we opened in 2015,” Antler said in a statement issued through a PR agency. “Proper food handling and safety has always been a priority for us as it should be for every restaurant in our city. We thank them for coming by and welcome TPH and any of its inspectors into our establishment anytime.”

On March 23, upset by a protest interrupting a Friday night dinner service – one of several staged in recent months — Hunter took a leg of venison to a hightop table overlooking the street, placed it on a cutting board and separated the meat from the bone. The gesture riled the protesters watching through the window, with one accusing Hunter of taunting the vegans with the “leg of a recently murdered deer.” Hunter returned half an hour later to eat a piece of seared venison steak in front of the vegans.

Asked who filed the complaint, the health agency would only say it was a member of the public. Marni Ugar, who’s been leading the protests out front of Antler, said she wasn’t behind it. “It definitely wasn’t me,” she said. “I considered it.”

Ugar is continuing with the protests outside Antler. She held one on Saturday to much media attention; another is scheduled for Thursday. The protests will end, Ugar said, if Hunter agrees to sit down with her. That looked possible last week, when Hunter reached out offering to take the vegans on a foraging trip. But that was before all the media attention. Ugar said she responded by asking for a sit-down meeting, but has yet to hear back.