Italian ambassador to Singapore, Dante Brandi, has called out Singaporean Italian restaurant Gotti for hosting a themed night based on the Italian Mafia.

Italian food, American crime bosses, and afrobeats

Gotti Italiano is an Italian restaurant and cocktail bar located in Amoy Street in Singapore.

The two-year-old establishment had put up a social media post promoting what it called a “hip hop mafioso” event on Mar. 8.

Touted as the restaurant's “first ever hip hop mafioso night”, it was meant for hip hop lovers to dance after dining featuring music like hip hop, R&B and afrobeats.

The social media post also featured a picture of American artists Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg.

Specific mention of the Mafia, other than the name of the restaurant itself, was not present, but merely implied.

The restaurant shares a name with John Gotti, the Italian American crime boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City.

Gotti was convicted in 1992 on numerous charges, including five murders, obstruction of justice, and racketeering, eventually dying in prison.

Dubious taste

Italian ambassador Dante Brandi responded on March 8, just before 7pm, saying that the event, and the name of the restaurant itself, was “in dubious taste”.

Brandi said “the Mafia is not what my country is proud of”, and that many people in the past and the present were “suffering and dying” because of it.

Brandi acknowledged that their holding the “hip hop mafioso night” was certainly “not illegal”, but said it was definitely in dubious taste.

He then quoted the anti-Mafia judge, Giovanni Falcone as saying “the Italian Mafia is not the most dangerous one in the world, but it is certainly the one with the vastest literature”.

Falcone was an Italian magistrate whose dedication to fighting Mafia influence in the south of Italy resulted in his assassination by the Mafia in 1992.

Brandi urged Gotti (the restaurant), to spare the world from “your additional literature on the subject”.

Brandi has been Italy’s ambassador to Singapore since September 2023, and is also the ambassador to Brunei, as well as the Consull General of Italy in the Vietnamese city of Ho Chi Minh.

The former lieutenant in the Italian army is a veteran of Italy’s diplomatic service, having joined Italy’s foreign service in 2000.

Invaluable feedback

On March 9, Gotti's social media account responded to Brandi’s post, apologising for any offence or discomfort caused.

The apology “deeply appreciated (Brandi’s) perspective” and said it understood the concerns he raised regarding Gotti's branding and event names.

Based on Brandi's feedback, which Gotti described as “invaluable”, the restaurant had removed all social media marketing, promoting the event.

It also committed to ensuring that future events and promotional activities would be more mindful and respectful to Italian culture and history.

Top image via Dante Brandi/Facebook, Gotti.sg/Facebook, & Gotti.sg/Instagram