Michelin-star restaurants are known not just for their food, but also for their service. However, one restaurant in Florence, Italy, Enoteca Pinchiorri, is currently buzzing for its alleged mistreatment of a customer who just asked about a birthday candle in a desert.
In the video, Kacie (@kacierose) shares her experience dining at Enoteca Pinchiorri for their boyfriend’s birthday for $1,500 experience. The price of the experience wasn’t the issue, the manager was.
She explains how when you make the reservation online, they ask you questions like food allergies, the occasion for visiting, and the option for add-ons such as a tour of the wine cellar or a birthday cake on a pedestal.
Kacie says she decided not to get the cake on the pedestal option because she knew her boyfriend would prefer the desert-tasting menu instead. She also assumed that it might come with a candle on it anyway since she wrote on the reservation that it was her boyfriend’s birthday and had mentioned it to their waiter.
When their dessert arrives and doesn’t have a candle like the other table whose birthday dessert did, Kacie says she brought up her confusion to her waiter. The waiter gets the manager who Kacie says had a hostile demeanor for the start.
The video has 6.1 million views and 7,000 comments as of Saturday.
@kacierose4 Im still so confused about this interaction 😔 There are so many other great 1 & 2 star Michelin restaurants in Florence that provide all-around incredible experiences that I would recommend spending your money at instead. #florenceitaly #michelin #michelinstar #enotecapinchiorri ♬ original sound – Kacie Rose
“You know when like someone just comes in hot and heavy and just agitated? You know when you can tell someone is just like, ready to fight? That was this man,” Kacie says about the manager.
With Kacie’s printed reservation in hand, he repeatedly told her that she had to reserve whatever she wanted in advance online. Kacie mentions that the manager won’t even let her get a word in to give her perspective.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t see that there was an option to just reserve a candle on the website..if there was I’m sorry, that’s on me, but I know that there wasn’t an option just to reserve a candle,” Kacie explains.
Ultimately, she says the manager was not sympathetic to Kacie and her boyfriend had to step in to diffuse the situation in Italian. It seems that the manager came around the boyfriend eventually, so much so that he offered them a tour of the wine cellar. At that point, Kacie was done with the night. She says she paid and went outside to wait for her boyfriend where she cried a bit to deal with the frustration of the experience.
Comments on the video are flabbergasted at the big deal the restaurant made about requesting a candle in advance.
“THREE STARS AND THEY MAKE YOU PAY EXTRA FOR BIRTHDAY CAKE?!” exclaims one comment.
“All they needed to say was ‘I apologize for the oversight on our part, here’s a complimentary something…’ even if there was a space to request a candle, it’s an easy fix!” chimes in another.
“I literally used to keep candles and lighters in my apron as a waitress….at TOPGOLF. This is insane,” recalls another comment.
Kacie says that after she asked a few of her friends about the restaurant, they also mentioned having questionable experiences. Still, it seems that some folks have had wonderful experiences at the restaurant.
TikToker Eva Wirth (@evawmallory) shares her experience visiting the same restaurant for her birthday years ago and having an amazing experience although they sympathize with Kacie’s frustrations.
Many believe the response Kacie got for simply asking a question about a candle on a dessert did not warrant her negative experience, especially when paying $1,500. Some comments on the video even suggested that Kacie reach out to the Michelin board via their app to document the complaint.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Kacie and Enoteca Pinchiorri via Instagram and email.
