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Snubbing the rich?

Eric Reguly, August 12, 2008 at 10:38 AM EST

Abramovich yacht

David Vaiani, the owner of an expensive Tuscan seaside restaurant called Bistrot, has been getting acres of press in Europe for allegedly having done the honorable thing. The newspapers claimed he turned away Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and his party the other day simply because the restaurant was full, not because he doesn't like the oligarch.

Reportedly furious, Mr. Abramovich, who owns the Chelsea Football Club and several superyachts, boarded their floating palace and set sail for Sardinia. The Italian newspapers loved the story and have turned Mr. Vaiani into a sort of national hero for not having catered to the whims of the world's 15th richest man.

But a spokesman for Mr. Abramovich, John Mann, says the story isn't true. In an email to the journalists who picked up on the “snub” affair from the Italian newspapers, he said: “Mr. Abramovich has been vacation in Sardinia since he left his home in Moscow at the beginning of last week. He has not visited Tuscany, and therefore could not have been turned away from the restaurant.”

Strange indeed, because Mr. Vaiani was quoted in the Italian press as saying: “I simply told [Mr. Abramovich's] assistant that we were full and suggested he try tomorrow. I have nothing personal against Mr. Abramovich. He is a very nice, cordial man and has eaten here before. The problem is that we are a very professional restaurant and if we are full then there is no way we can accept further bookings. If we did we would risk spoiling our service and that goes for everyone.”

Whatever the case, it seems the wealthy are having a rough time at Italy's seaside resorts. In Sardinia, the millionaire Flavio Briatore, who is part owner of the Queens Park Rangers Football Club and managing director of the Renault Formula One racing team was pelted with wet sand thrown by sunbathers when he sped his small boat through crowded waters and landed on the crowded beach.

The sunbathers reportedly shouted “Shame!” as they threw the sand at him and his wife. Mr. Briatore, who was in Sardinia to open a new restaurant, responded to the attack by telling the Corriere della Sera newspaper that he would “close everything down. I pay my taxes. This is my right.”

A rebellion against the rich, however small, would be extraordinary in Italy, which generally adores conspicuous consumption and respects wealth – note the re-election in April of  prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's second or third wealthiest man. But maybe even the Italians have had enough. Best to ditch your Rolex next time you go to an Italian beach.  

 

  1. Michael Cowie from Canada writes: Odd how you assume your reader is on the side of the rich. But then again, this is a Canadian paper! And we ARE comfortable with the rich getting special treatment, and never being criticized for it. Italians DO love their conspicuous consumption - JUST like us Canadians like degrading (or just killing) those that owned the continent before we arrived. Yes, it's stereotype free-for-all here at the trusty Globe, and we haven't even got to the meat of the article!!

    I fail to see how being refused a table, when there are no tables, is a snub. I suspect the Italian public would also take issue with a rich man arriving via jet ski as it is probably considered very bad form to arrive on a device that just churned two or three children to mulch (if they happened to be under the water as you zoomed up onto the beach).

    If our fair writer wants to see another example of the rich being treated badly, send any one of our growing ranks of millionaires to Japan and get him to try talking on his cellphone on the train. He will be told he is being rude, as would anyone. We might see that as a snub (especially in that nasty, harsh-sounding language), but then again, when we hear the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, we tend to blame the unambitious poor (and the idea the poor might want to steal some of that wealth back some day is... well, that's just crazy red socialist drivel).

    Is the article here suggesting that wealth SHOULD give one the power to have someone else's reservations canceled, or to endanger people's safety or tranquility? Shame about how intolerant those Italians are becoming... wouldn't want to emulate dirty Johnny foreigner, now would we, eh?
  2. Antonio San from Canada writes: Reguly is sinking to new lows... that should fit this canadian newspaper well.
  3. Sue City from Canada writes: Michael - It doesn't sound to me like Eric Reguly is a cheerleader for the rich. He's poking fun of them and their sometimes brutish manner.
  4. scott thomas from Canada writes: Nice. I wonder how his wife feels when he is referred to as "Flavio Briatore, pursuer of the models Naomi Campbell and Heidi Klum".
  5. NotASpoiledAthelete - from Canada writes: 15th richest person in the world and he boards a USED yacht?!

    He owns my footie club and he buys hand-me-down rich-man toys?
    No wonder we ended up with Sheva!! lol
  6. Joan Tintor from Canada writes: Re Campbell and Klum: that was before Briatore was married so I assume his wife knew about it or it's none of her business. I believe Flavio is father of Klum's first child.
  7. Hung Long from Hong Kong writes: If he couldn't get a table at the bistro, couldn't he use their drive-through?
  8. M Poland from Calgary, Canada writes: Bully for Signore Avaiano. Strange, though, that the Italian media reportedly adores his ethical manoeuvre--a few years ago they were all over Charlie Locke of Lake Louise ski hill here in Alberta as he backed his staff when they refused to let Alberto "la Tomba-Bomba" Tomba butt into the lift line, and threw him off the hill. Many here were glad to see that the [existing] customer counts.
  9. S Lucht from British Columbia, Canada writes: Michael Cowie: You wrote "We might see that as a snub (especially in that nasty, harsh-sounding language)..." Were you referring to the Japanese language? If you think it's harsh-sounding, fine--but what makes it nasty?
  10. TrueCondos DotCom from toronto, Canada writes: Now I don't feel so bad about being denied entry to a restaurant not once but twice on a recent trip to Italy. Even billionaires get the "Italian Job"!
  11. Never Wrong from sunnyvale, Canada writes: Hear, hear to Broken Record. Who's the dude who just bought the $700MM CAD villa in France (might be Abramovitch) and what about the Russian Fertilizer King that bought the villa in Palm Beach from Trump for $100MM USD? did they start their businesses from scratch or did they raid the state piggy-bank? methinks the latter is more true.
    Good for those who tell these scammers to take a hike!
  12. John Woodrow from Hamilton, Canada writes: Well known for a long time but often forgotten, wealth cannot and does not guarantee that those who possess it are civilized or mannerly.
    I commend the restaurant owner, David Vaiani, who would not alter the reservation arrangements for those with a fat cheque book. Now there is a business owner one can respect!!
  13. Broken Record from Victoria, B.C., Canada writes: Another thing - Canada is rapidly becoming an oligarchy too. Every time a crown corporation is "privatised" it means another individual (and/or the corporation he controls) is being handed state assets, paid for by us but handed out to friends/controllers of the party in power, whether it be federal or provincial, for pennies on the dollar. So far here in B.C. we've lost our railway and our ferries and are in the process of losing our seniors care homes to the ever-outstretched hand of the CEOs. Soon the mega-yachts will be crowding our quays whilst the rest of us wait on their owners. Maybe this is a good thing, I don't know. Conservatives seem to think so.
  14. Jah Nee Kah Sun from Canada writes: Nice boat.
  15. Phil G from Ottawa, Canada writes: Good story. If I was rich, I'd stick with my street side hot-dogs and shawarmas. I don't understand why Abramovich got upset. I'm sure there were plenty of other restaurants around. And shouldn't he have a chef on that boat?
  16. Jesu Pifco from Canada writes: Yeah but maybe a Russian chef? A least Signore Ferrari has an Italian chef on his yacht. A fine fellow and a vegetarian too.
  17. S Lucht from British Columbia, Canada writes: He might have a chef on the boat, but what some wealthy people like is to show that they have the world at their feet. Buy a 500-ft yacht? Done. The most exclusive cars and jewelry? No problem. Reservations at the world's finest restaurants? Usually just an assistant's telephone call away. Their world is turned upside down when someone yanks the silver spoon out of their mouth.

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