Bad Ideas

Restaurant Owner Isn’t Sure Why Everyone Hated Her Nazi-Themed Spaghetti

In all its newly renamed glory.
In all its newly renamed glory.

Tsao Ya-sin, owner of the Italian restaurant Rock Hill in Taiwan’s capital Taipei, readily admits she “know[s] little about World War II,” but the shortcoming must have seemed neither here nor there when she picked the Third Reich–themed name “Long Live Nazi Spaghetti” for her pasta special because it has German sausage in it and, well, she “wanted to get customers’ attention.” She’s done well: Her noodles have elicited sharp rebukes from Taiwan’s Israeli and German embassies, which recommended to Ya-sin that it’s perhaps time to review European history. More remarkable, the dish has been on the menu from the start, since last year’s grand opening, and Tsao said no one ever complained until the local news arrived. Whatever the case may be, it’s undergone a much less offensive name change and is now called “World Champion Spaghetti,” to honor the Germany’s World Cup victory. [Taipei Times]

Restaurant Owner Isn’t Sure Why Everyone Hated Her Nazi-Themed Spaghetti