The Italian tourist who made headlines when he was arrested after he couldn't or wouldn't pay the bill at Smith & Wollensky has finally settled up. You'll recall that cops were called to the midtown east steakhouse last Monday night after Graziano Graziussi told the restaurant he left his wallet at his hotel some 30 blocks away. Graziussi, an attorney from Naples who had been dining with a friend, had begged the restaurant to let him go retrieve it, but the Maitre d' refused, and then Graziussi spent the night in jail.
Although he insisted that it was all an unfortunate misunderstanding, NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the 43-year-old Graziussi did have a wallet with $118, but refused to hand it over. Kelly says Graziussi also claimed not to speak English, "but a patrol supervisor who responded to the scene was fluent in Italian and was able to translate. He conducted the interview and determined that the individual simply did not want to pay.”
And so, to close the loop on this Most Important Dine & Dash FAIL Of Our Time, we are duty-bound to report that Graziussi finally settled up in court yesterday, paying a total of $219.21 in restitution and surcharges. "It's done — of course I'm happy," he told reporters outside court. However, his friend—identified by the Post only by his first name, Mario—declared, "In Italy, no one will go to Smith & Wollensky again!" It's unclear if the steakhouse, which has zero locations in Europe, will be able to stay in business much longer without its prized Italian customers.
