An Italian chef has been dismissed after refusing to put pineapple on pizza.
Davide Tamburella, head chef at La Costa, an Italian restaurant in Queensland, Australia, refused to put the fruit on his pizzas, claiming it was “an insult to his culture”.
A Fair Work Commission ruling heard that Mr Tamburella was sacked from the now-closed restaurant on May 20, after refusing to follow his employer’s instructions to serve the controversial topping.
A fortnight earlier, his boss pulled him into a meeting to “address performance concerns”, including his refusal to use the fruit.
Elliot Ingram, the restaurant’s managing director, said Mr Tamburella had refused to make the pizzas on three separate occasions.
The dispute came to a head when a large function spending A$15,000 (£7,500) requested pineapple on pizza.
The chef instead asked his boss to “check how important it is for Italians not to put pineapple on a pizza”, according to the commission’s findings.
Mr Ingram said that while ham and pineapple was not his personal favourite combination, he had learnt during 17 years in the hospitality industry that it was important to “pick your battles”.
He said: “Do I go and buy a ham and pineapple pizza? It’s probably not my absolute favourite. But I’m not going to turn my nose up at it, that’s for sure.”
The restaurant had previously served ham and pineapple pizza on its children’s menu.
Mr Tamburella, who had worked at La Costa for more than three years, went to the Fair Work Commission claiming unfair dismissal.
Davide Tamburella said his boss should ‘check how important it is for Italians not to put pineapple on a pizza’
On Mr Tamburella’s LinkedIn profile, he describes himself as someone who focuses on “delivering exceptional food” and “improving business performance”.
His posts include a “letter for chefs” with the theme “respecting the ingredients”.
Other concerns raised about the chef included his language and “escalation of frustration in the workplace”. He denied wrongdoing.
The ruling also detailed an incident in April where Mr Tamburella fractured bones in his right hand when he struck a metal handrail at work.
The dispute had significant implications for Mr Tamburella’s immigration status.
The Italian had been more than three years into the process of applying for an employer-sponsored permanent residency visa, known as a subclass 186 visa.
However, after his sacking, the restaurant ended the process, the tribunal heard.
Mr Tamburella lost the unfair dismissal claim because it had been filed too late.
La Costa has since closed, with its lease expiring in July. Mr Ingram cited the rising cost of running a business in Fortitude Valley, a nightlife district in Queensland’s capital, Brisbane.
Mr Tamburella has since found work at another Italian restaurant, where pineapple does not appear on the menu.
Queensland is considered the pineapple capital of Australia, producing all of the country’s commercially grown pineapples.
The state is also home to The Big Pineapple, a 16m-tall fibreglass model of the fruit.
Pineapple on pizza remains one of the food world’s most divisive subjects.
The Hawaiian pizza, typically made with ham and pineapple, is widely credited to Sam Panopoulos, a Greek-born Canadian restaurateur who first served the combination in Ontario in 1962.
