Rome restaurant grilled over €700 lunch
A top-rated Rome restaurant may have its licence revoked after two tourists complained they were charged €700 for lunch.
They complained to police saying the Passetto, whose customers have included the Queen, Ava Gardner, Leonardo DiCaprio, Grace Kelly and Salvador Dali, had misled them.
The bill also included a €115 tip they say they did not agree to.
Police temporarily shut down the restaurant, but owner Franco Fioravanti said the Japanese couple looked satisfied when they left after a lavish meal that included oysters, lobsters, sea bass and porcini mushrooms.
“If one wants to spend money, with us one can,” he said. “What’s wrong with that?”
The couple – a 35-year-old man and a 26 year-old woman – complained a few days after their lunch.
They told police that an English-speaking waiter offered to bring a few dishes without them consulting the menu.
What followed was a €100 bottle of Sauvignon and a several-course extravaganza.
After the complaint, police checked the prices on the receipt against those on the menu the Japanese said they never saw, and found a discrepancy. “They are way higher, quite a bit disproportionate,” a spokesman said.
Police also sent health inspectors, who found defective refrigerators, contamination among different foods and other faults in the restaurant’s kitchens.
The restaurant was closed temporarily, and officials are also considering revoking its licence.
