Restaurant Mocked Online for Creating Gender Reveal Lasagna: 'LasagNO'
Having a baby is a wonderful thing, and part of the joy of welcoming a new life into the world lies in sharing it with others. I remember how my wife shared the news of the imminent arrival of one of our kids with her family.
She baked cupcakes and topped them with a generous dollop of frosting. In that frosting, she hid a tiny plastic baby that would only be found as people started eating the sweet treat.
I still remember her sister’s surprised delight as she discovered the little baby head poking up from her dessert. And as awesome as that reveal was, it’s hardly the most dramatic out there.
“Today” recalled how birth announcements — and, more specifically, gender reveals — have gotten more dramatic over time. Some couples have trained alligators and craft a super-complex Rube Goldberg machine.
One Arizona couple accidentally started a wildfire by blasting a colored, explosive target with a gun. But Villa Italian Kitchen, which caters in addition to having standalone restaurants, has come up with a gender-reveal surprise that’s equal parts innovative and stomach turning.
The company’s website reads, “When it comes to announcing the gender of a new baby, Americans have seen everything from pink and blue cakes to balloons to explosions — well, almost everything! Joining in the fray, we are thrilled for the addition of an exciting new catering package to our robust lineup of mouthwatering menu items: the world’s first-ever Gender Reveal Lasagna!”
How does a gender-reveal lasagna work? Well, the proof (as it were) is all in the filling.
If you just examine the mozzarella-topped expanse of the pasta dish, which the New York Post says costs $140 and is supposed to feed a dozen people, it looks like any other lasagna. But it’s an entirely different story when you slice into it.
Lift up a big slice, and you’ll see that the ricotta within is either pink or blue. Yes, that unnatural shade of cheese lets eaters know the sex of the soon-to-be-born infant.
Over on Villa Italian Kitchen’s Instagram account, followers generally responded with revulsion to the announcement. “That’s disgusting,” someone wrote, following up the proclamation with a skull emoticon.
“Are you supposed to eat it after?” one person asked. “Arrivederci to that.”
One person on Twitter commented, “lasagNO.”
lasagNO
— A.J. (@ajhisnandez) January 22, 2019
A handful of commenters said that they had no problem with the pasta. And Villa was quick to let people know that this gender-reveal dish was actually authentic.
Made to order, it contains imported noodles, as well as real Alfredo and cheese. The meal also comes with salad and garlic rolls just in case you can’t stomach the unnaturally colored main dish.
What do you think? Is this a cute idea or a big, fat lasagNO?
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