A New Jersey singer-songwriter was left outraged when an upscale restaurant served her birthday dessert with an offensive message highlighting her wheelchair.<\/p>\n
Antonia Sinbaldi was celebrating her 29th birthday dinner with friends and family at Blu on the Hudson in Weehawken, NJ, in June when she ordered an Apple Tart Tatin for dessert. <\/p>\n
\u201cHappy Wheel Chair Birthday,\u201d the message, written in sauce, read on the plate.<\/p>\n
Antonia Sinbaldi celebrates her 29th birthday with family at Blu on the Hudson in Weehawken, NJ, on June 20, 2026. antoniasinibaldi_music\/Instabram<\/p>\n
Sinbaldi had posted a video from the outing with loved ones while she received the sweet treat, described as a puff pastry with vanilla ice cream and salted caramel \u2014 and the cruel note. <\/p>\n
\u201cNot to complain about a fairly new restaurant in my town, but why would you make my dessert say this? she questioned on Instagram.<\/a> \u201cWhat was written on my plate probably set my employee off more than me. I would never expect that in my town.\u201d<\/p>\n Sinbaldi has used a motorized wheelchair and has needed a ventilator after she suffered a cervical spinal injury when a drunk driver struck the car she was in at the age of 2.<\/p>\n She was baffled by the message, and her body reacted faster than her brain.<\/p>\n \u201cBody started shaking, body started spasming. My body reacted faster than my mouth or my mind,\u201d she told WNBC<\/a> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n After the initial shock, Sinbaldi\u2019s party confronted the management of the Weehawken establishment \u2014 which opened in 2023 \u2014 and questioned the message.<\/p>\n Sinbaldi was served a dessert dish with \u201cHappy Wheel Chair Birthday\u201d written on it. antoniasinibaldi_music\/Instabram<\/p>\n Sinbaldi with her party outside the restaurant on her 29th birthday. antoniasinibaldi_music\/Instabram<\/p>\n The party was offered complimentary drinks, she claimed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt offended me. This whole thing doesn\u2019t sound real,\u201d Sinbaldi told the outlet.<\/p>\n The restaurant said the message was a misunderstanding between staffers after the order was placed, indicating the birthday dessert was for Sinbaldi, the diner with the wheelchair.<\/p>\n Sinbaldi\u2019s party confronted the management of the Weehawken establishment \u2014 which opened in 2023 \u2014 and questioned the message. NBC 4<\/p>\n Sinbaldi poses for a photo during her birthday dinner where she was served the baffling dessert. antoniasinibaldi_music\/Instabram<\/p>\n \u201cWe sincerely apologize to the guest and to everyone who was hurt or offended by this incident which took place on June 20, 2026. Treating every guest with dignity, respect, and care is fundamental to who we are as a company,\u201d the restaurant said in a statement to WCBS.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cOur standard operating procedure is to use table and seat numbers on tickets to identify where each dish should be delivered. In this instance, the word \u2018wheelchair\u2019 was used as a reference to identify where a birthday dessert with a candle should be delivered,\u201d the management said. \u201cUnfortunately, that notation was misunderstood and was written on the plate itself. There was absolutely no malicious or disrespectful intent behind the notation. However, we fully understand how seeing that word written on a plate could be deeply hurtful and upsetting.\u201d<\/p>\n Sinbaldi didn\u2019t fully agree with the restaurant\u2019s sentiment, calling it a \u201cbs response.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy chair is not my identity, Sinbaldi wrote on Instagram. \u201cLike I said, my body was reacting faster than my mind so I couldn\u2019t leave that fast.\u201d<\/p>\n Sinbaldi, an advocate for disability rights, asked for people to learn from the birthday mishap.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t bring my disability [up] in every sentence, is what people, they should know,\u201d she told the outlet.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t