I live down the road from Il Passetto restaurant in Rome. It is known to be expensive, but you may remember last June that two Japanese tourists complained to the police after forking out 700 euros for their lunch.
The newspapers love a story like this, partly because of the opportunities offered to sub-editors ‘Restaurant lands itself in the soup’, ‘Bill left a nasty taste in the mouth’ (and here I must apologise for that ‘forking out 700 euros’). In part however it is because the Roman restaurants have a bit of a reputation for this. The Romans themselves don’t suffer, because they all know a little place round the corner which makes an Amatriciana better than your mother does and costs less than a hamburger.
Anyway, the restaurant was closed by the authorities, rather elegantly, I thought, for hygiene reasons. It is part of life in Italy that you can get away with blue murder but cross the line one millimetre and you will get the book thrown at you. They probably checked the owner’s car had been properly serviced. His crime seems to be giving the sport a bad name.
Now the owner is fighting back. On the window of the restaurant he has posted a list ‘For the curious: this is what those two Japanese ate in June’.
And I must say it is a pretty sporting little lunch. A couple of beers, and three antipasti: 2 portions of porcini mushrooms, 2 of scampi and two of oysters (6 of which were au gratin). That would be enough for most people and with the bread and a half bottle of sauvignon notched up 176 euros. A full meal for two would be fifty or sixty in that little place round the corner but this is Passetto and they are eating seafood.
Then the Japs went for the primo, or pasta course. Tonnarelli pasta with two kilos of lobster, if you please, at 104 euros a portion.
They seem to have been getting into their stride now because they ordered 1.5kg of roast sea bass with potatoes at 55 euros a kilo, together with an interesting chardonnay at 79 euros.
Dessert? Naturalmente. 2 portions of fruit compote and only one of ice cream (perhaps one of them was running out of steam or it was a desire to economise).
And the whole lot, with a bottle of water, came to euro 579.50. They then had their photos taken with the waiters and, according to the proprietor, offered a tip rounding it up to 700 euros.
I rather think I am coming down on the side of the proprietor. It is difficult in a foreign country but the prices are on the menu and I am sure 2kg of lobster would cost a fair bit in central Tokyo.
The name of the restaurant, by the way, is taken from the secret passageway from the Vatican to Castel S.Angelo, used by the Pope when besieged by angry restaurant proprietors for not paying his bill.
The newspapers love a story like this, partly because of the opportunities offered to sub-editors ‘Restaurant lands itself in the soup’, ‘Bill left a nasty taste in the mouth’ (and here I must apologise for that ‘forking out 700 euros’). In part however it is because the Roman restaurants have a bit of a reputation for this. The Romans themselves don’t suffer, because they all know a little place round the corner which makes an Amatriciana better than your mother does and costs less than a hamburger.
Anyway, the restaurant was closed by the authorities, rather elegantly, I thought, for hygiene reasons. It is part of life in Italy that you can get away with blue murder but cross the line one millimetre and you will get the book thrown at you. They probably checked the owner’s car had been properly serviced. His crime seems to be giving the sport a bad name.
Now the owner is fighting back. On the window of the restaurant he has posted a list ‘For the curious: this is what those two Japanese ate in June’.
And I must say it is a pretty sporting little lunch. A couple of beers, and three antipasti: 2 portions of porcini mushrooms, 2 of scampi and two of oysters (6 of which were au gratin). That would be enough for most people and with the bread and a half bottle of sauvignon notched up 176 euros. A full meal for two would be fifty or sixty in that little place round the corner but this is Passetto and they are eating seafood.
Then the Japs went for the primo, or pasta course. Tonnarelli pasta with two kilos of lobster, if you please, at 104 euros a portion.
They seem to have been getting into their stride now because they ordered 1.5kg of roast sea bass with potatoes at 55 euros a kilo, together with an interesting chardonnay at 79 euros.
Dessert? Naturalmente. 2 portions of fruit compote and only one of ice cream (perhaps one of them was running out of steam or it was a desire to economise).
And the whole lot, with a bottle of water, came to euro 579.50. They then had their photos taken with the waiters and, according to the proprietor, offered a tip rounding it up to 700 euros.
I rather think I am coming down on the side of the proprietor. It is difficult in a foreign country but the prices are on the menu and I am sure 2kg of lobster would cost a fair bit in central Tokyo.
The name of the restaurant, by the way, is taken from the secret passageway from the Vatican to Castel S.Angelo, used by the Pope when besieged by angry restaurant proprietors for not paying his bill.
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