Marco Valente and the start of his frank farewell message to people living in Highgate

A RESTAURANT owner who went viral online with a furious closing down message has spoken to the New Journal about why he felt let down.

Marco Valente, who has shut down Don Ciccio Osteria in Highgate village after six years, saw his announcement spark a media frenzy and shared across the internet. It had blamed the end of the traditional Italian trattoria on the “sheer indifference of our neighbours” and criticised locals for ordering pizza deliveries from further afield.

The message said waiting staff had been “humiliated” by an empty dining room and added: “To the community of Highgate and its neighbours – thank you for never supporting us, not even once.” ​

The sharp words led the Daily Telegraph to ask its readers: “Is this the world’s most aggressive restaurant ­closure?”

But Mr Valente, speaking to the New Journal from Italy yesterday (Wednesday) said the comments on the restaurant’s website deserved some clarification. “I have nothing at all to say about Highgate village. It is a very nice area, it is an elegant area, worth a visit. But apart from the area I cannot say anything good about the people.

“But I would like to clarify – we did have some very nice customers. I’m not saying I lived six years among very bad people, I’m not saying that at all.”

SEE ALSO THE NEW JOURNAL’S REVIEW OF DON CICCIO OSTERIA

“My staff and I had some very nice moments with customers around us, but – as I said in my statement of farewell – we had no support or even worse we had something trying to disrupt us. It’s impossible that an Italian restaurant with very nice food and affordable prices needs to close for a lack of customers.

“This is absolutely impossible. I have spent all these six years trying to point the finger to myself by saying I was probably doing something wrong, but again, we did nothing wrong at all.”

The restaurant, near the roundabout in Hampstead Lane opened in October 2019. It was formerly home to a branch of the DimT chain. Other food businesses to depart from that stretch of road include Zizzi.

John Plews, who ran the Upstairs At The Gatehouse theatre for 35 years and is now involved in projects to improve tourism in the village, said the location was unfortunate.

“It’s 100 yards off the beaten track,” he said, adding: “I imagine it applies to anywhere in the country. If you’re on the high street you’ve got passing trade all the time and if you’re around the corner it’s only the locals. The locals all knew about it and a lot of people that came to the theatre used the restaurant but you’ve got to back up locals with passing trade from visitors and visitors just never went round the corner.

“They served lovely food and Marco was a lovely guy, but you can never totally rely on locals.”

Mr Valente’s online message had said: “We may be the first Italian restaurant to close, not for bad food, bad reviews or bad luck, but for the sheer indifference of our neighbours…” before adding sarcastically: “To those we served during lockdown, when we were the only restaurant open, thank you for never visiting us once the pandemic ended.”

Mr Valente told the New Journal that he wanted to thank his staff for all their hard work who he said were his “family.”

He added: “For six years my staff and I tried everything we could, changing the menu, making seasonal menus, changing the appearance of our place, serving original platters. We tried everything.

“I had several waiters, waitresses and chefs and all of them I thank. All of them went through a very frustrating situation when we were making just £40 a day in revenues, or having to see that the other restaurants in Highgate were working well and ours was left.

“In my staff I always saw the humiliation in their eyes. I feel a mixture of desolation and also anger. The messages of support I have had from across the world have been very heartwarming.

Marco Valente

“We were open all through the pandemic, delivering food door to door. There was nothing humiliating about it. It was so nice to meet and help people. That was the mission of Don Ciccio from the beginning. And these six years we have served every type of person to the best of our ability.”

It also said that the Highgate Society had not replied to proposals for collaboration.

Mr Valente said: “They were very frustrating. I wrote several times to the The Highgate Society and I saw they had a newsletter highlighting other facilities.

“But with us – never, ever anything.”

Andrew Sulston, chair of the Highgate Society said: “If businesses want to get in touch, at any time, they really should. Where possible we try to identify common interests with similarly placed businesses or groups as everyone is stronger together. We do what we can, where we can for local businesses.”