Did Americans really celebrate Putin’s birthday (or when is a Whopper but a whopper?)

 

Russian media claims that this hamburger was created in New York to celebrate Putin’s birthday.

Russian media claims that this hamburger was created in New York to celebrate Putin’s birthday.

By Slava Tsukerman

On October 7, Russia celebrated President Vladimir Putin’s 65th birthday.

According to the Russian media, that event was joyfully noted throughout the entire world and especially in the USA.

The Russian state News Agency TASS reported that on Vladimir Putin’s birthday Ledo Pizza restaurant in Washington, DC offered visitors “pizza in Russian style.” There were beef, onions, spices and pickled cucumbers in its composition. “This is our first pizza, in which there are pickled cucumbers,” said Ledo Pizza manager Tarik Diab, according to TASS.

The pizza is named “Hot Like Putin” and costs $22.50.

The restaurant is located not far from Russian Embassy and its employees often visit it. According to the TASS coverage, Diab claims that he learned the recipe for the pizza during a gala event held by the Russian-speaking community of Washington.

The most popular item in Russian media was the message about special five layered Putin-burger created in New York restaurant Lucy’s Cantina Royale to celebrate the Russian president’s birthday. (See above photo.) The weight of this hamburger is 1952 grams because Putin was born in 1952.

The Russian website Noodleremuver.news took note that seven leading Russian TV channels and newspapers reported about the Putin-burger creation. Here is the screenshot of the NTV (one of the biggest Russian national TV channels) program:

screenshot of the NTV (one of the biggest Russian national TV channels) program

The Russian business newspaper Vzgliad  stated:

“The restaurant has established a rule that if a visitor can eat this dish, which weighs almost 2 kilograms, within thirty minutes time, he/she will not have to pay for it. This burger costs $30. Despite the size and severity, 90% of those who order it managed to scarf it down within the deadline.

“One of the restaurant managers, Ted Bryan, said that Putin is the only state leader whose birthday is celebrated in this restaurant by the presentation of a special dish. He said that Putin has significant influence, ‘so the burger should be big’. TASS reports that the manager expressed confidence that the dish will be a success for visitors.”

Everyone who would like to check the website of this restaurant / can see that it is a Mexican restaurant and there are no hamburgers on its menu.

The journalists of the website Noodleremuver.news discovered that all the TV channels that did the reports on Putin-burger used the same video. The video was shot by the agency Ruptly, owned by the channel RT (Russia Today). So it was created by a Russian TV production company.  The morning after the celebration of Putin’s birthday, the video disappeared from the Ruptly’s YouTube channel.

The “waitress” on the video is Tamara Ilizarova. She is a professional actress, her profiles can be found on the websites of casting agencies:

Tamara Ilizarova, a professional actress who played the “waitress” on the video

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