A New Jersey singer-songwriter expressed outrage after an upscale restaurant served her birthday dessert with a message that highlighted her wheelchair. Antonia Sinbaldi, celebrating her 29th birthday with friends and family at Blu on the Hudson in Weehawken, New Jersey, in June, ordered an Apple Tart Tatin. The dessert arrived with the message “Happy Wheel Chair Birthday” written in sauce on the plate. Sinbaldi, who has used a motorized wheelchair and needed a ventilator since a spinal injury at age 2, posted a video of the dessert on Instagram. “Not to complain about a fairly new restaurant in my town, but why would you make my dessert say this?” Sinbaldi questioned online. “What was written on my plate probably set my employee off more than me. I would never expect that in my town.” Sinbaldi stated that she experienced a physical reaction to the message, telling WNBC, “Body started shaking, body started spasming. My body reacted faster than my mouth or my mind.” Following the incident, Sinbaldi’s party confronted the management of Blu on the Hudson, which opened in 2023. They were offered complimentary drinks, according to Sinbaldi. The restaurant issued a statement to WCBS apologizing for the incident on June 20, 2026. Management explained that the message was a result of a misunderstanding between staff. They stated that the word "wheelchair" was used as a notation on the order ticket to identify which table the birthday dessert should be delivered to, as the diner in the wheelchair was at that specific table. The notation was then mistakenly 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,” the restaurant’s statement read. "Treating every guest with dignity, respect, and care is fundamental to who we are as a company." Sinbaldi, however, called the restaurant's explanation a "bs response," stating on Instagram, “My chair is not my identity.” Sinbaldi, who advocates for disability rights, urged others to learn from the experience, adding, “Don’t bring my disability [up] in every sentence, is what people, they should know.”