Italian chamber makes a meal of recommendation
The Italian Chamber of Commerce has had to do a bit of fast back-pedalling. Through its public-relations agency, the chamber sent out a press release last week saying it had 'chosen Il Padrino, the Lan Kwai Fong Italian restaurant, to recommend to its 150 corporate and individual members in the SAR'.
The press release went on to praise the year-old Wo On Street restaurant's pizzas, pastas and even its open terrace.
The ring of endorsement seemed unprecedented, given that there are so many other ristorantes in Hong Kong, and many of them are active in the chamber and as part of the local Italian community. I mean, why single out one restaurant? This seemed like the kind of thing that could cause a feud.
Naturally, the chamber's general manager, Manuele Bosetti, wanted to quickly defuse the fuss about their awkwardly worded note.
'It's not an exclusive endorsement. We have a series of restaurants which offer our members discounts, and Il Padrino is just one of them.
'We are happy to have them among the privileges for our group and they are a terrific restaurant, but they are just the newest [to offer a discount] for our card-carrying club members. There are many other restaurant groups which are part of us too, like Pino Piano's Gaia Group and the LKF Group.'
