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“We were asked if somebody was going to catch something off of the plate because we had prepared the food on it,” Claringbould recalled Tuesday.

He said his partner calmly dealt with the customer and told the man he would be OK.

“We were very hurt and upset by it. Some of the narrow-minded things that have been said to us are absolutely shocking.”

They intend to close the restaurant on April 13.

The 35-year-old chef, originally from the United Kingdom, has worked in the restaurant business for 15 years. After cooking in kitchens in British Columbia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, he settled in Manitoba.

He and his partner, who does not want to be identified, lived in Winnipeg before they bought a rural property near Morris. Claringbould taught a cooking class in town, then decided to pursue his dream of running his own restaurant.

The pair opened Pots N Hands in December, serving dishes such as baked potatoes stuffed with chicken curry, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.

Claringbould said he and his partner didn’t hide their relationship but didn’t flaunt it either. In February, he said a group of regular customers found out they were gay and stopped coming. Others verbally attacked the couple in the restaurant and around town.

Most people in the community of 1,700 are not homophobic and have been welcoming, said Claringbould. But the others make it difficult to run a business and live there happily.

Claringbould said he and his partner previously faced homophobia when they lived in another community, which he wouldn’t name. The couple stuck it out for awhile but people just wouldn’t change their attitudes.