Not rivers of blood but rivers of wine outside Soho’s fêted Bocca di Lupo. The restaurant’s co-founder Jacob Kenedy protested after one of his wine-suppliers made racist comments.
Fulvio Bressan, an independent winemaker from Fruili, had called Italy’s new integration minister Cecile Kyenge a “sporca scimmia nera” — a dirty black monkey — in a post on Facebook. Bressan later took down the comments but by then they had gone viral and sparked outrage in Italy.
Bocca di Lupo, which specialises in regional Italian dishes with delicacies such as deep-fried sage leaves with anchovies, had stocked Bressan’s wine at its Archer Street venue, but no more.
Kenedy stood outside his restaurant with all his staff and announced, “Fulvio Bressan, not only are you a racist, you are also a spineless one who tried to eat your words to save your ass.” He then ceremonially smashed five bottles of red wine on the pavement to applause, and a video of the incident is now doing the rounds on YouTube.
Bressan had earned a good reputation for his wine. The question now is this: how many more London restaurants will be putting principles before their pinot nero?
