Could an Italian eatery in east London survive the outrage that greeted news it was charging for a dusting of cheese?
There is no chance this one passed you by. It was one of the big stories, up there with Donald Trump, Brexit and all the rest. The food writer and chef Rosie French went to an Italian restaurant in London and was charged extra for parmesan on her tagliatelle. It being 2018, she didn’t take it up with the restaurant – Ombra in Hackney – but with Twitter, specifically Jay Rayner of the Observer, who added extra outrage (no charge). Others weighed in and it became a thing – grate-gate, if you will (you won’t).
To be fair to Ombra, the parmesan supplement was on the menu, although it didn’t help that it was listed as £1 when French had been charged £1.50. Nor did it help that parmesan was spelled “parmisan” on the bill. People were cross. If there is one thing worse than a gold-digger, it is an ignorant gold-digger.
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