My husband and I visited Sicily in July 2022 for our honeymoon and stayed three nights at Hotel Signum. On the last evening of our stay, 28 July, we dined at Signum. We both had the nine course tasting menu and wine pairing. There was a couple sitting two tables away from us whose baby cried loudly during nearly the entire duration of our meal (seven of the nine courses) and the restaurant management did nothing to intervene. Several other patrons were staring at the couple and their baby and were clearly upset by the noise.
By the fifth course, I tried to flag down a man who appeared to be the manager to speak with him about the issue but he instead sent the sommelier to speak with me. When she came over I said no, I would like to speak with him. He never came to our table but proceeded to make the rounds at others', pouring wine and chatting. When a woman (presumably the chef Martina Caruso) came to our table later on to ask how everything is, I told her that the food and wine were wonderful but a baby had been crying for the past hour and a half and that I had requested to speak to the manager and he never came. She smiled and responded "but the baby is not crying now, is he?" (to be clear the baby did resume its crying following her snide remark).
Understanding that Michelin awards stars based on a restaurant's cuisine and not service, I am nevertheless aghast that Signum was awarded a Michelin star as, in our experience, the poor management of the restaurant prevented us from enjoying the food. (To be clear, our server, the sommelier and the bus people were all lovely - management is the issue here). My husband and I have dined at over a dozen restaurants with at least one Michelin star, from Café China to Epicure, and we have never experienced such abominable management and general disregard for patrons' experience. read more
