An Italian restaurant that blamed its closure on villagers in an affluent London neigbourhood received a damning zero-star hygiene rating just weeks before it shut its doors.
Marco Claudio Valente, owner of Don Ciccio in Highgate, offered a remarkable parting jab at the area’s well-heeled residents last month for ‘never supporting us, not even once’.
The restaurateur, who opened the place in 2019, wrote in a bitter final website post that ‘bad food, bad reviews, or bad luck’ were not at fault, rather potential patrons ordering takeaways elsewhere – leaving staff ‘humiliated’ by empty dining rooms.
Unfazed by torrential backlash to his remarks – which blamed the closure on residents’ ‘sheer indifference’ – Mr Valente then doubled down on the comments and stoically said: ‘You can’t be liked by everyone!’
But a grim hygiene report shortly before its closure saw disgusted Camden Council inspectors discover mouse droppings, out-of-date seafood and open jars of mayonnaise and breadcrumbs, the Daily Mail can reveal.
The document, dated August 8, lays bare the squalid situation behind the kitchen doors at Don Ciccio.
Mouse droppings were found in the kitchen itself, by the pizza oven and behind coolers, as well as in the changing room.
Marco Claudio Valente, owner of Don Ciccio in Highgate, blamed the closure of his restaurant on villagers in the well-heeled London neigbourhood
The eatery received a damning zero-star hygiene rating just weeks before it shut its doors
‘Pest nesting materials’ were also spotted across the changing room, including in the lockers where staff stored their chef’s whites, as well as in the upstairs food store.
Out-of-date food was discovered in the fridge, including frozen pasta, sausages, salmon and prawns, which had decayed.
A packet of breadcrumbs sat opened in the changing room, yards away from the nesting materials and droppings, while an opened jar of mayonnaise was placed below a slab of raw meat.
Inspectors also described a chaotic backroom setup at Don Ciccio, finding that there was essentially just one person in the management team.
They noted this ‘doesn’t meet/provide capacity for delivering duties’.
Mouldy strawberries were spotted in the kitchen, while much of the food at Don Ciccio, including mussels, seafood and cured pancetta, was unlabelled, meaning staff could not track when it was first opened.
Various items were at risk of cross-contamination including meat placed above cream cans and pipes.
The fridge by the entrance of the restaurant on Hampstead Lane, meanwhile, was recorded at 17C, far higher than the legal limit of 8C.
A grim hygiene report saw disgusted Camden Council inspectors discover mouse droppings, out-of-date seafood and open jars of mayonnaise and breadcrumbs
Don Ciccio’s bitter farewell
Dear residents of Highgate, of the neighbouring villages, of North London, and of London in general,
Don Ciccio – Osteria Italiana has closed today, exactly six years after its opening in October 2019.
We have closed due to a lack of customers.
It wasn’t enough to be Traveller’s Choice 2023 – 2024 – 2025 on Tripadvisor. It wasn’t enough to be told we had one of the best pizzas in London. It wasn’t enough to hold 4.7 stars on Google, with 700 reviews, for every one of those six years. Nor to change our menu each season, roaming through the flavours of Italy.
We are guests in this country, and as guests, we will not complain.
We’ll simply say: addio.
And now, with gratitude:
To our staff — Roberto, Diego, Daniele, the many waiters and chefs who came and went — thank you for your passion, and for enduring the humiliation of entire evenings with an empty dining room.
To our faithful customers — we’ll miss you. Perhaps one day we’ll meet again, in Italy.
To the community of Highgate and its neighbours —thank you for never supporting us, not even once.
To those we served during lockdown, when we were the only restaurant open, thank you for never visiting us once the pandemic ended.
To the Highgate Society — thank you for never replying to any of our proposals for collaboration.
To those who lived a few doors away yet ordered delivery from somewhere else —thank you for your commitment to distance.
In short: thank you all for supporting us so perfectly.
WE MAY BE THE FIRST ITALIAN RESTAURANT TO CLOSE…
…not for bad food, bad reviews, or bad luck —but for the sheer indifference of our neighbours.
To those who said, back in 2019, ‘they’ll close within three months’ -congratulations !
You were only off by five years and nine months.
We’re proud to have served the elderly, the children, the families, the lonely, the joyful and the broken alike. At least we did our duty.
It’s only a drop — soon it will dry.
Unless, of course, it’s the beginning of a storm.
Addio. Goodbye
Don Ciccio
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Meal slicers were ‘encrusted in food debris’, ventilation was judged to be ‘very dirty’, chopping boards had deteriorated and the floors were damaged and dirty.
A worrying gas leak was also mentioned, which inspectors labelled a ‘risk’.
The shocking levels of bad hygiene at Don Ciccio were not a new phenomenon either, with the report noting that most of the issues had been spotted in the past and had not been tackled.
It all meant the restaurant was slapped with a zero out of five rating, with ‘urgent improvement necessary’, and indeed the place closed down just two months later.
When it was open, the eatery served traditional Italian fare, including pizzas costing up to £18 and a risotto priced at £26, and was named Traveller’s Choice on Tripadvisor between 2023 and 2025.
But locals taking their daily stroll past Don Ciccio, which backs onto billionaire’s row The Grove – home to the likes of George Michael, Kate Moss, Jamie OIiver and Sting over the years – got used to seeing a cluster of unfilled seats in the restaurant’s dark interior.
Speaking after a speedy exit to Rome, owner Mr Valente told the Daily Mail: ‘I spent six years in Highgate. We tried to do everything, and despite that, we are the only Italian restaurant, probably in the world, that needs to close, not for any bad reviews, prices, quality of food or the service, but just for the indifference around us.
‘Of course I stand by my words. They are still there [online].
‘We had a lot of very nice customers, but it was very tough. We were struggling there and were somehow humiliated in this place.’
Despite boasting a 4.7 out of 5 rating on Google, the reality for Don Ciccio was often empty tables and idle staff, with some days passing by with just one or two customers entering the restaurant’s lime green doors.
He added: ‘When you are an Italian restaurant, and sometimes you do just £40 or £45 per day total revenue, it is very frustrating. It’s very humiliating.
‘Probably we could have been supported better by the community. I’m not saying anything bad against Highgate or the people around us. The point is that nobody supported us, and we were probably the only Italian restaurant in the world making £40 revenue a day.’
All this despite a wealthy potential client base, who live in homes averaging almost £1million.
‘An Italian restaurant does not need rich people instead of poor people or normal people,’ Mr Valente said. ‘We only need people. It doesn’t matter how rich the wallets of these people are.
‘I’ve asked myself, “what’s the problem?” and we can definitely say the problem is not on us.’
The restaurant owner is currently holed out in Italy’s capital – but not for long. He’s planning a speedy return to the city he loves, despite the rejection from the neighbourhood he called home for six years.
‘I’m going to come back,’ he said. ‘I’m a bit touched at the moment about what happened with Don Ciccio so I don’t think I will have any strength in the near future to open another Italian restaurant.
Despite boasting a 4.7 out of 5 rating on Google, the reality for Don Ciccio was often empty tables and idle staff, with some days passing by with just one or two customers popping in
A general view of Highgate High Street. Don Ciccio’s failure came in spite of a wealthy potential client base, who live in homes averaging almost £1million
‘I have a true passion for hospitality, for food, drinks and welcoming people. So why not? Probably my passion will drive me again in the future.
‘If Londoners wish to have us, we can open another restaurant, but London needs to become the London that it was in the past.’
When the Daily Mail visited the plush neighbourhood in the north of the capital this week, businesses and locals painted a picture of a reclusive owner whose first major involvement in the area was to throw its residents under the bus so publicly.
Chris Underhill of Prickett & Ellis estate agents, just down the road from Don Ciccio, told the Daily Mail the row reminded him of a similarly bitter exit made by a nearby bubble tea spot two years ago.
‘They came out saying, “these people don’t support business, they’re supposed to be all rich people”, and it backfired on them,’ he recalled. ‘People said, “well, you’re charging eight pounds for a sandwich, we don’t spend silly money”.
‘I’ve heard mixed reports. I’m embarrassed to say I’ve been to virtually every restaurant in Highgate, but not there.
‘It always seems closed, always looked closed. I was going to go once with a couple of mates for lunch, but they were closed.’
The estate agent, who has lived in the area for 50 years and organises the popular annual Christmas lights ceremony, explained that many restaurants fail by having the same attitude as Don Ciccio.
A sign on the outside of the restaurant now reads that it has closed, adding ‘come back soon to shop small’
He added: ‘When businesses open in Highgate, they say, “Highgate is filled with millions, we will cash in”, but the reason why local people are successful and rich is because they’re sensible.
‘They will not tolerate being ripped off, although I don’t know what the prices were like there.
‘If you look at the competition, every pub in the village has decent gastro food, some of them award-winning. I’ve been in the village forever and I never heard anyone say, “oh you must go”.’
In the farewell rant, Don Ciccio singled out the Highgate Society for an especially sharp jab for ‘never replying to any of our proposals for collaboration’.
The Highgate Society has 1,400 paying members and works closely with local authorities and various London bodies on a range of issues, mainly environmental.
But Mr Underhill thinks the closing Italian restaurant should have learned from the actions of new coffee shop, Urban Baristas, who are already proving a hit among Flat White fans just months after opening.
‘I went in there and they immediately stepped up to be sponsors for the Christmas lights. They’ve put their money where their mouth is, they’re going to get a huge amount of publicity from it and the 1200 people there need to go for food or coffee or something.
‘When local pubs rebranded, their staff came around giving out leaflets and discounts, encouraging people to come in.
Local estate agent Chris Underhill told the Daily Mail the row reminded him of a similarly bitter exit made by a nearby bubble tea spot two years ago
‘That never really happened. I felt you can’t just blame the community if you don’t engage.’
Don Ciccio was faced with immediate challenges on opening, battling through the Covid pandemic in its first year.
In its closing statement, the restaurant pointed out how it had confounded critics expecting it to ‘close within three months’, reminding naysayers they ‘were only off by five years and nine months’.
It added: ‘We are guests in this country, and as guests, we will not complain. We’ll simply say: addio. And now, with gratitude.
‘To our faithful customers – we’ll miss you. Perhaps one day we’ll meet again, in Italy.’
Mr Underhill accepted that this ‘authentic’ Italian side had always been there, but said: ‘I’m sure in Italy, they engage with the community.’
Don Ciccio lay on the corner just off the busy high street, which Mr Underhill said was not the easiest spot to trade on – but he went on to add that a hairdresser next door had enjoyed success for decades.
He said: ‘They’ve built up their client base, and that’s helping them survive.’
Saborino, from the local petrol station, had little sympathy and said the only people the failed restaurant could blame were themselves.
Families living opposite Don Ciccio said they had either given up on their local Italian years ago, or had never bothered with it in the first place (pictured: a separate closing statement)
‘He’s blaming someone else? He should blame the chef or the menu or something like that,’ he said.
‘It’s bull**** to blame someone else. You need to survive. It’s bitter.
‘I’ve never been to the place or spoken to the guy. It’s too expensive.
‘It’s rude. You cannot blame anyone. You have to blame yourself. It’s crazy.’
The family running the petrol station have been in business for years and are clear proof that shops are not automatically doomed to fail in this part of north London.
As are the Red Lion and Sun, a pub whose rebrand a decade ago brought the locals streaming back in, culminating in it being awarded Best Pub in the Country at the Great British Pub Awards in 2018.
Speaking from behind a busy bar, Wayne said: ‘I remember passing [Don Ciccio] many times, and it was always empty.
‘I’ve never been in myself.
‘We’re busy here. Everyone has struggles but generally it’s good.’
Families living in the roads opposite Don Ciccio told the Daily Mail they had either given up on their local Italian years ago, or had never bothered with it in the first place.
Kate Reade said: ‘During Covid we bought very nice pizzas from them but when we went to go there again after Covid we found it far too expensive, and a bit old fashioned.
‘We didn’t actually stay and eat, even though we had reserved a table beforehand.
‘It was disappointingly expensive.’
Another local said: ‘Restaurants go out of business every day.
‘It was always half empty – that’s it.
‘My feeling is that if I’m going out, I want to go somewhere that’s not Highgate, because I live here.
‘I work from home, so it’s kind of nice to go somewhere else, so I’m not that interested in going to local restaurants. I’d rather go to Muswell Hill or Crouch End, Hampstead or Belsize Park, but a walk across the road for me, doesn’t sound like a very exciting night out.’
A man living in a road off Hampstead Lane, just yards from Don Ciccio, said: ‘It’s always been a kind of haunted corner. There was Zizzi’s there before and then a juice bar, they all close down.
‘I went in there with my girlfriend once. That spot keeps getting closures. They’ve had so many options and none of them land.
‘I had no negatives to say about it. I didn’t know people who went there.’
Dining and Cooking