You Talkin’ About Me…?

“And…?”

t was back in 2016, after a campaign of naughty rebranding by a certain top-of-the-range town website, that Tommaso Spennato made his national tabloid debut.

Back then, with GG renaming Caffé Delle Stelle as The Bitter Lemon and organising a WWF showdown with Grumpy Cat, Tommaso found himself being cast as a Basil Fawlty for a new generation.

Mainly because the man is one miserable git.

At least, that’s what Tommaso would like you to think, his gruff exterior hiding a heart of ricotta. As any of his true regulars will tell you.

It’s the day trippers who don’t quite see the sunshine behind the clouds. And they’ve been taking to Trip Advisor to let the world know.

It’s here you’ll find customers rating the 56-year-old restaurateur as ‘extremely rude‘, while another non-fan wasn’t too impressed when Tommaso ‘complained about our order to our faces‘.

Patient as a spider…

Our personal favourite might be the lady who found she was being ignored when trying to give her order, Tommaso finally glancing at his watch and informing his hungry customer that he had decided to close up early.

Best of all, any customer who complains just a little too loudly – or at all, perhaps – is merrily banned for life. 

A man after our own heart.

Still, such negative reviews has seen the reigning champ of Greystones’ Best Coffee and Greystones’ Breakfast Of Champions make the tabloids today, with local lad Nick Brambill in The Irish Star going with Customers Get The Surly Bird for their headline whilst Nova settled with Grouch Of Greystones May Ban You For Life.

And what does the pugilist from Puglia think about it all?

“If people find me surly or grumpy, that’s fine,” says Tommaso. “They can go somewhere else.”