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This Italian restaurant owner doesn’t take criticism laying down, especially if that criticism is based on what he sees as poor knowledge of Italian food.
When a customer went on to TripAdvisor to complain about the service in Maximo Italian Bistro in London, he certainly got s reaction.
Reviewer Zwelithini M left a terrible review when a waiter at the restaurant refused his request leaving him ‘dumbfounded’. The whole story centres around the customer asking for parmesan cheese to put on his crab ravioli in a cream salmon sauce. The waiter seems to have taken great exception to this request as in Italian food, it is considered sacrilege to put parmesan cheese on a fish dish.
Now, the customer is usually always right but in this case, the waiter twice refuses the customer’s request and shrugs it off. Too shocked to complain he leaves it until he returns to his hotel to phone the owner who responded that “even if I insisted on getting the cheese, he would not give it to me and seemed offended that I would even ask”.
Maximo's boss Massimo Donato wasn’t going to take a bad review lying down and he got on to TripAdvisor to respond. You see there are very specific rules that Italians abide by when it comes to their cuisine and yes they’ll take any transgression personally. Putting cheese on any kind of seafood is a cardinal sin and you do so at your peril. You can almost feel the fury as he typed out his response.
"No words about your rudeness and your silly request,” writes Massimo.
"I am trying to understand your incredible frustration and disappointment about your obscene request you have made here at Maximo.
"It was very hard to say no to you, and the harder part was to explain as better as I could the obvious reasons of my refuse."
But he wasn't done there and took the opportunity to teach Zwelithini a few things about Italian cuisine.
"NEVER ask for pineapple on pizza; NEVER put cream on your Carbonara; NEVER ask for any Alfredo pasta (who is Alfredo anyway?); NEVER put chicken on arrabbiata:
"And, last but not least, NEVER NEVER EVER ASK FOR CHEESE ON A FISH DISH."
Before adding: "Anyway, I understand that your weirdness doesn't know any limit, so there are a lot of fake Italian restaurants run by fool greedy and consciousless people that allow any kind of abominy (sic).Try parmesan on cow dung, it should taste fine for you."
