What to do when you see a lobster in a water container at a restaurant? One could order it and eat it themselves or not order it, knowing someone else who comes after them would eventually buy it and eat it. But, as it turns out, there’s a third option available. A Swiss woman visiting an Italian restaurant has proven so in a video that has now gone viral. After paying the restaurant 200 euros for the 1 kilogram weighing creature, she released it back into the sea.
It’s not everyday that someone orders a lobster at a restaurant without the chefs having to plate it up. However, that’s exactly what happened to Antonio and Gianluca Fasolino, owners of the seafood restaurant Gente di Mare in Golfo Aranci on the Italian island of Sardinia.
“The lady entered our restaurant and was immediately struck by the aquarium we have at the entrance. She asked me if the lobster, which was in the water with plenty of space available, as happens in all fish restaurants that respect animals, could be released into the sea. And I replied: no problem for me! She then sat down at the table with her husband”, Antonio Fasolino told the Italian newspaper La Republicca.
Apparently, the Swiss diner was pretty pleased with Antonio’s reply. “She was absolutely thrilled and wanted to perform a kind act”, he continued. “At first, I thought she was joking. Then, I understood that the lady was serious and wanted to do a good deed.”
The woman asked the restaurant personnel to weigh the lobster and to tell her the price for the animal. The creature turned out to weigh around 1 kilogram, resulting in the rather hefty price tag of 200 euros, which, according to the owner, she payed without blinking.
She then got handed the lobster in a see-through container before asking whether or not it would hurt the animal if she were to throw it into the water from a certain height. When informed it wouldn’t cause him any harm, she stroked the animal before releasing it back into the sea, standing on the restaurant’s terrace.
“Seeing her joy and excitement, I was moved, too. She was very happy and thrilled to have been able to fulfill this wish, and we were happy with her”, Fasolino concluded.
