I visited Piccolino Restaurant in Chester city centre, on a busy Saturday, from the outside the…read morerestaurant looked rather nice, and I knew from previous experience with Individual Restaurants (parent company of the restaurant), that they offered gluten-free pasta, so I had high hopes, but the hopes were shattered.
WARNING: DO NOT EAT HERE IF YOU HAVE ALLERGIES. Read on for more...
Everything started so well, and I was really excited, despite visiting on a busy Saturday and not having a reservation, I sat down straight away, and managed to get a seat at the chef's table, a rather cool and unique experience, that is rare in the UK, especially in city centre restaurants. I couldn't see much of the kitchen, and mainly the desserts window, but still noteworthy.
The staff member who sat me down at the table, seemed friendly, she seemed knowledgeable about allergies and told me about some gluten-free options, including the pasta, but when she went away, everything went wrong.
I ordered a gluten-free carbonara with a new waitress, specifying I had a gluten allergy, the food came out rather quickly and was handed to me by yet another waitress (How many staff members does it take to serve a table of ONE!), I noticed the pasta was spaghetti, and not the usual penne, I asked her to confirm it was gluten-free and she seemed confused, she originally though I asked for more cheese, my waitress (who took my order), noticed the trouble and she came over, I explained the situation to her, her only reply was "You never told me gluten-free", as she stormed off holding the bowl.
My first instance was "What? I did tell you.", but I was also confused, she didn't confirm that the first dish was or was not gluten-free, she didn't confirm they would remake it, she just walked off, without an apology.
I can totally understand she may have just not heard me, the restaurant was very busy with loud music blasting (not really a fan of loud music especially in a high-end restaurant charging the prices they do...) but the fact she ignored an allergy, is a serious matter, and then she argued back was just disgraceful.
I was eventually given a new plate of food, and the waitress (who brought my original dish out), mentioned gluten-free, and this time I noticed it was penne. I was impressed with the dish, it looked and tasted great, the poached egg on top of the pasta was such a great concept, and I enjoyed it.
After eating my food, I paid, waiting for a different server again, as I didn't want to have to deal with the rude server who took my order, I had to ask to remove the service charge (Come on... they try to poison me and then charge a service - WHAT?), and left.
A couple of hours after leaving the restaurant, I began feeling rather sick with symptoms that could only be described as a condition of my coeliac, I knew I had, had gluten. My guess is the kitchen had high chances of cross-contamination and may have re-used the egg from my first (gluten) pasta dish, I did contact the management who did phone me back after my email contact, and took the information, but he never contacted me back after taking this information (despite promising to, and me chasing it up).
Another thing from the phone call that shocked me was the manager admitted that someone just heads to the supermarket across the road and "gets whatever is there" for gluten-free orders, so the food isn't even fresh. If I'm paying good money for pasta (£15.50), why should I expect something they've just gone across the road to get?
1* - I really wanted to like this place as the food was great, but due to the allergy handling process and cross-contamination as well as other factors discussed throughout this review, I just don't feel it is a safe place to deal with allergies, and the handling from giving me gluten pasta, arguing back with me, and then how sick I became after my meal here, was frankly shocking.
