A restaurant to retain

I’ve yet to sit down and add reviews for various hotels, attractions and restaurants to Tripadvisor.com, but when I do so, there is a small restaurant in Florence that will be getting an excellent report from me.

Trattoria al Trebbio is a lovely restaurant which was just metres from our hotel. The food was really delicious, and the prices were reasonable, but that’s not why they’ll get the great rating from me.

We had dinner there one night. All good. Great food, good service.  We paid the bill and went back to the hotel.

It was only after we’d been back about ten minutes, and had changed into pyjamas that Queenie shrieked at the realisation that she had left something really important at the restaurant.

Have I mentioned how she finally had her braces removed earlier this year? And how she now has to wear a retainer full-time for about another two years? No?

Well, that retainer is made of completely clear plastic and fits right over her teeth to hold them in their new position.  She has to wear it at all times, except when she’s actually eating. They are quite expensive to replace, and if it is lost you need to replace it within 24 hours or the teeth can start to move.

Can you see where this is headed?

At the restaurant she had removed the retainer and instead of doing the sensible (and more tasteful) thing of maybe wrapping it and putting it in a handbag, she had left it on the table.

So, The Poolboy hotfooted it down to the restaurant. The table had been cleared and re-set. No sign of the retainer.  The staff searched through the dirty linen in case it had been cleared with the tablecloth. No luck.

Meanwhile, up in the hotel Queenie remembered that her main meal had been served in a bowl, which had been placed on top of a flat-plate and she had put the retainer between the two plates.

When The Poolboy returned, he was given this new information and went back to the restaurant to check the dishwashers.

Again, no luck.

When he came back, Queenie said she would go down there and search herself.

The Poolboy and Queenie headed back and when they got there, discovered the staff had laid down plastic sheets out the back, and were sorting through all the day’s waste from the rubbish bins, in case it had been scraped into there.

Within minutes, they located it.

Service above and beyond the call of duty.  Needless to say, Queenie (who was facing a fairly expensive replacement bill) was more than happy to tip them from her own spending money.

So that’s why they’ll be getting a great review from me.

If you’re ever in Florence, seek out Trattoria al Trebbio…just remember not to leave any dental appliances on the table.