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It can be hard for restaurants to get the word out about their eatery, so many turn to social media, sharing photos and videos that show off the delicious foods they offer or their warm ambiance. Well one Indian restaurant in England posted a video of happy customers dining on their favorite dishes, captioning the clip, "Join us for a perfect blend of exquisite flavors, with classical and unique dishes inspired by ancient family recipes," and the video wound up getting them a ton of publicity and business, but not because of anything to do with the restaurant. It was due to a very surprising response in the comments section.
A woman named Lucy Watson wrote, "How old is the footage? My late husband and his son are on the first shot and he died in 2014??" Clearly unsure of how to respond to something like that, the restaurant, Spice Cottage, simply replied, "Sorry to hear this. This footage was recorded last week."
The restaurant wasn't the only reply to the comment, plenty of folks chimed in as well. Some suggested that the husband faked his own death, while others were sure this was all a publicity stunt and that Lucy was just a plant, part of a set-up orchestrated by some marketing genius who knew it would make the restaurant go viral. A few took the opportunity to joke, writing things like, "I was there on this day and the flat bread that I ordered arrived after our main course, it was my late naan."
The Mail was able to reach the widow and delve deeper into the mystery. The 59-year-old Lucy explained to the paper how she stumbled upon the video, noting, "I don't really use Facebook apart from snooping on friends or catching up with people. I was scrolling through and the video popped up. The moment I saw the thing I thought, 'Oh my God ā that's Harry.' It was so instant. I didn't even have to think. He'd be eating a chicken korma because that's all he ever ate."
She added, "There was no doubt in my mind it was my husband. I couldn't pause the thing so I had to replay it about 30 times and each time I was surer and surer." The main reason she was so certain it was Harry is because he has a very distinctive look - a big build with white hair.
Lucy is also convinced the restaurant is lying about their claim that the video was filmed days before it was posted. As evidence, she claims that Spice Cottage never has that many people in it these days, stating, "They are never busy like that any more, that's the problem. They have obviously posted this to generate customers because they are really up against it now."
To their credit, the restaurant took the time to respond to everything Lucy was saying, posting a comment to "clarify some misunderstandings." They wrote about how they recently renovated and the video, which was filmed just days before it was posted, reflected those changes. They explained that before 2023, their tables were adorned with white and red tablecloths, proving that the footage had to be recent. The comment ended, "This is a very unusual situation and we hope this clarifies any confusion."
As for any rumors that her husband had faked his death, Lucy debunked those, recalling his final days in 2014 when he was very sick in the hospital as he awaited a liver transplant. Unfortunately, he didn't make it.
Keep up to date by checking out Spice Cottage's Facebook page.