Uva Loses its Corkscrews, Eat Out Award, Antiques and More

Welcome to Eater's latest feature, Shit People Steal, in which we ask restaurateurs what items in their restaurant have been (or are frequently) stolen.

Today's installment of Shit People Steal comes from Massimo Lusardi, proprietor of Upper East Side wine bar Uva. In the past, customers have pocketed vintage decorations, corkscrews, awards, and more:

There's been many things people have stolen over our 6 years at Uva. The usual small, easy to grab antiques are constantly disappearing. We even had a cool old-school Italian Alpine Troops hat and old Italian Military police hat that pulled a Houdini. However 2 things that went missing really stand out, or at least they used to.

First, there were these antique corkscrews that belonged to my grandfather's collection that were on display in a nice and pretty big frame — gone. Secondly — and this one makes really gets me going — was our TONY Eat Out Award for 'Best New Wine Bar,' with 'Uva' engraved on it and everything...I mean, what the hell, who does that?

On another occasion, justice was served when I saw a lady slip our menu into her bag - she didn't know I was watching. Rather than ask for it back, I put "Custom Made Leather Menu" on her check and charged them $25 for it. I'll never forget the frozen look on their faces when they saw it on their bill. They paid for the entire check, left the menu on the table and stared at the ground as they quickly walked out. Love it.

· All Previous Editions of Shit People Steal [~ENY~]
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