The Italian

This review has been posted with a heavy heart having been a regular customer with my wife at The Italian for fifteen years. We went with two friends for our annual early Xmas get together on a Friday evening. We had booked but were pleasantly surprised to find it not too busy, in fact the restaurant is often busier midweek. We were seated adjacent to the toilets and kitchen, which was ok with us, and we put our orders in. The starters were fine and fairly soon the steaks we had each ordered for mains arrived. It was noticed that the plates were stone cold, rendering the accompanying sauces cold also. We each tried the steaks but they were lukewarm. One portion of fries was undercooked. Waiters took them away and ten minutes later the same steaks returned, this time on searingly hot plates. This had caused the steaks to overcook, mine had become medium, etcetera for the other three but also now chewy. My Rossini had returned minus a crouton beneath. This was mentioned and a waiter brought two slices of a plain white roll on a plate. After further comment the bread was removed and then returned on a plate, but now toasted. Croutons are meant to be sautéed in butter and seasoned and serving toast with largely inedible steaks was unacceptable. Being mature diners we did not want to make an undue fuss so I asked to speak with the manager Alessandro (Alex), whom I knew well. I quietly explained the inadequacies of the food and service. The reaction from Alex was muted. There was a muttering apology and he said he blamed himself but it was made through gritted teeth. Something of which we were unaware had clearly affected his normal friendliness and demeanour. Without any warning Alex picked up the plate with the toast and hurled it violently a few feet from the restaurant into the wall between the toilets and kitchen. The plate shattered into pieces. We were genuinely shocked by his behaviour and it was obvious from the reaction of other customers that they felt the same. It was only through good fortune that nobody was in the vicinity of the wall at the time, as they would have sustained injury. Waiters removed our plates. We were not asked whether we required desserts, offered a drink on the house, just nothing. I had a further conversation with Alex explaining that we had done nothing to warrant such extreme behaviour. I suggested he vent his anger upon his kitchen and waiting staff and not regular customers, but he clearly was not receptive to constructive comment concerning our spoiled evening. We got up to leave and Alex instead of perhaps offering a heartfelt apology kept his distance. As I said I do not post this review lightly, it is an unembellished account of an unpleasant experience which we shall not risk repeating.