When 31-year-old Natasha Tunmore was diagnosed with coeliac disease almost six years ago, it made eating out for her a huge cause of anxiety. And if her recent experience at a Doncaster restaurant has anything to go by, we can understand why.
Following a visit to Zammuto Steak and Grill House in Doncaster, Yorks, last Wednesday 19th August, Natasha left a one-star Tripadvisor review, accusing staff of being flippant about her severe gluten intolerance.
Advert
However rather than apologising, restaurant boss Giuseppe Zammuto left a sarcastic reply, labelling the diner 'spoiled' over her 'whims and demands.'
Giuseppe wrote: "During this eat out to help out period we have been extremely busy probably busier than we've ever been in 22 years of business.
"I'm sorry we couldn't cater to your whims and demands during this busy period but unfortunately we had over 160 other customers we had to serve and cook for.
"[...] I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your evening but if you let us know the next time you are coming and I will get the red carpet out for you and assign you your own waiter and chef.
Advert
"I'm sure the [£]5.75 you paid for your 10oz fillet steak will cover the costs."
Natasha claims the restaurant hadn't even bothered replying to her when she contacted them prior to visiting to ask what items on the menu would be suitable for her, and when she asked about some of her choices, she claims the waiter told her he was "too busy to check with a chef".
Advert
When she finally got an answer out of him, he told her she could only have the blue cheese sauce, however a separate waiter later told her the only sauce she could have was the spicy tomato, which had been taken off the menu. She was even told that the chef advised she "eat the food at her own risk."
Unsurprisingly the meal left Natasha feeling uncomfortable and intimidated, resulting in her negative review.
Natasha, from Doncaster, said: "I have been diagnosed as coeliac coming up to six years and I have never had anything even similar happen to me. It's taken a long time to feel confident enough to eat out and ask the relevant questions.
"If this had happened to me when I had been newly diagnosed I am sure I would have burst into tears. All of this was very abrupt and intimidating.
Giuseppe claims the restaurant was inundated with negative comments and reviews and claims the 'witch hunt' over the incident had provoked him to apologise wrongly. He also claims to have 'learned his lesson' about replying to Tripadvisor reviews in the future and has vowed to not do it again - we should hope so!
Advert
Giuseppe said: "I shouldn't have written it. I admit it. I made a mistake, I was angry. I had just worked 13 hours straight and I was getting this aggro from someone when I didn't see what I did wrong. I shouldn't have written it, but it happened. Then I got all that abuse from all these people I didn't even know
"On that particular night it was the busiest night we've ever had. Somebody was in who was a coeliac. I work in the kitchen as a chef. I understand she's a coeliac, we've dealt with many coeliacs, people with allergies and also people who are just fussy eaters. We haven't got a problem with that.
"Basically I was getting bombarded with questions about what sauces do we do, can she have this, can she have that? It wasn't one waiter, it was about three in total. It's not because we didn't want to do it for her, it was just that physically we couldn't take the requests as much as we could on a quieter night if she had pre-told us.
"It just happened that we made a mistake. [When I saw the review] I was a bit upset. I did put 'whims and demands' because, like I said, we were getting demands. We had quite a few in the kitchen [from other customers] and I was trying to get all the other checks out at the same time.
However following his change of heart, the next day Giuseppe went on to blame the issue on Natasha, saying: "In a nutshell the lady in question didn't care about the other diners but was selfish in her actions regardless of whether she was a coeliac or not.
"I would like to retract my apology as I realise now after reviewing all the information that we didn't do anything wrong and we did the best and correct thing under the conditions we were in. We in no way alienated her because she was a coeliac."
Featured Image Credit: Kennedy News and Media