Mozza's New Perfume Pizza...Had it?

[grrranamal]

Ok I finally made it to Pizzeria Mozza, after reading many of your mouth watering reviews and I have to say it was AMAZING... Best Pizza Ever IMHO! We started with the squash blossoms, incredibly yummy (my technical description!) moved on to the tomato, avacado bacon thingy which was good but as an afterthought we should have ordered the chopped salad instead. Then moved onto pizzas: Fennel Sausage and Bianchi. After a brief strategy session in my head I decided to try the Bianchi first. I savored the flavor of the cheese along with the crispy pieces of sage and OMG the crust... Loved it. I then set out to conquer the Sausage pizza.

And then it happened, new diners sat down next to us DRENCHED IN PERFUME AAAAAAHHHHhhhhhhhhhh. As I raised my beautiful piece of sausage fennel pizza to my lips to take my first bit, instead of absorbing the aroma of the red onions and spices my nose was overwhelmed with perfume.... grrrr.... and there you have it Mozza's New Perfume Pizza.

To the ladies who lunched at Mozza last week drenched in perfume: Why?

[lessleyellen]

Hey there,
Coincidentally, Table Manners (the CHOW.com advice column,) covered this topic this week.
http://www.chow.com/stories/11818

Perfume in restaurants. Sorry you had to suffer through that!!
Lessley Anderson
senior editor
CHOW.com

[jfood]

Whoa...Jfood thought you could not use the site for marketing blogs? :-))

Couldn't agree more about it. The jfoods will move to a different table if the Eau de Diner at the table next door is overpowering.

[MGZ]

It's bad enough when the cologne drenched diners are near you, but have you ever had a bartender who wore copious amounts of scent? AWFUL! I swear, after watching him twist the cap off of a beer I could taste the Old Spice! WRETCHED! Another time, I had a bartender cut a twist for a martini, the after shave that was still lingering on his fingers fouled the cocktail beyond recognition. WASTED GIN - Oh the humanity!

[morwen]

My husband has an immediate violent reaction to scents whether it's perfume, scented products, the smells that exude from craft stores or stores that sell body products. We've noticed over the years that it's cheap synthetic scents in particular that send him reeling, usually not well made perfumes or natural oils.

Our worst experience was eating in a resto while on a road trip. A group of silver haired ladies all drenched in competing scents was seated directly behind my husband when we were half way through our meal. Less than a minute later his eyes teared up, his face turned red and he lost his dinner before he could even get up to run for the restroom. When we were finally able to get him out of the dining room, the worst migraine I'd ever seen him have kicked in requiring an ambulance to be called so we could get him to the nearest ER for treatment.

There is nothing polite you can say to anyone who wears too much scent. They love it and want to share with everyone around them. The only way we've learned to cope is to remove ourselves from the vicinity. Hubby will go wait in another area of the restaurant while I have our dinners moved and reseated if that's possible, or we have our dinners packed and leave. Thankfully it hasn't happened a lot and never in-flight where there's no options....yet.

[queencru]

I feel for your husband as I have similar problems. Certain scents give me asthma attacks (I do not normally have bad asthma) or migraines. When I take public transport I find myself having to move on a regular basis to avoid certain scents, since I tend to react badly to a few very popular scents. Don't even get me started on scent branding in hotels- I think there was a topic about this at some point. Ugh.

[andytseng]

I have a friend who smokes, so to "mask" the stench of cigarettes, he bathes himself in cologne. It is the most disgusting thing, and I cannot go to dinner with this particular person.

[Maxmillion]

The fennel sausage pizza at truly is the best one IMHO (even though I haven't sampled all the others -- hardly scientific, but there you go.

And it is perfumed with fennel pollen, which I think is pretty spesh.

On the subject of too much perfume -- our first time at the Kodak Theatre a couple sat near us and the woman was reeking of cheap perfume. We immediately moved down a few seats, but later the occupants of those seats showed up and we had to move back.

I got a splitting headache and a runny nose as a result. It was almost unbearable but there seemed to be nothing we could do about it. I really wanted to say something, as sweetly and nicely as possible, as we departed, but my guy wouldn't let me. I guess there is no way not to offend...

Plus, they were of a different race to us and it might have appeared racist (?)

In any case, I would like to hear if anyone had any luck with pointing this sort of thing out to people who are clearly oblivious they are ruining your night/meal etc

I think would say something quite blunt and matter of fact if I encountered someone excessively scented in an elevator, I think. Easy escape afterwards!!

[Rizza]

Sorry to hear about that...I can't wait to try Mozza. I often encounter the same issue at wine tastings, of all places. The worst I can remember was at a $100 per person tasting - inexcusable.

[RicRios]

"I would like to hear if anyone had any luck with pointing this sort of thing out to people"

No, it's just not doable (plus the fact that having many in my family very allergic to strong smells, it gets really painful).

Just wondering: if a no smoking campaign could be successfully fought against the almighty tobacco lobbies, could a similar campaing be fought against the Chanels of the world? I'd say it looks very doable, at least in paper.

[hill food]

I agree Ric, if I can't smoke around someone, they need to leave the Polo or Chanel at home. (I am a little ticked about non-smoking patios - you got the indoors... - but that's a losing battle).

worse, ever taken mass transit (SF N-Judah) packed next to someone who used a pungent, acrid body wash? one stop. Duboce to Church - I had to get off. and I am not sensitive or allergic.

[jerry200]

Oh boy, is that something that needs to be said! I think that as people get older, there sense of smell diminishes and they don't really know how much they reek of perfume/cologne.

If just one person reads this and wakes up...

[maxzook]

I'm in my mid-fifties, and in all fairness, most of the people I encounter who reek of cologne or artificial scents are younger than I am.

I don't understand why there's so much political correctness about allergenic food warnings, while no one addresses this problem which can make people every bit as sick.

[jfood]

Jfood is mid-50's and his nostrils were in full gear when a few months ago two 20's guys showed up at a bar after playing water ballon fight filled with cologne.

[RicRios]

The day I become President of the World, my first action will be to prohibit the use, manufacture and sales of perfumes.

[Wolfgang]

Here Here. I hope you're including cologne in with perfumes.

That's too bad that your fennel sausage pizza was ruined.

[wakko11]

I suppose it's better than body odor, though...

[Emme]

the only thing worse is the stench of BO covered w/ perfume.

we experience this often at places where there are a fair number of long-standing elderly patrons, such as nate'n'al's in beverly hills. i love the place for what it is, but last time, this lady in the next booth reeked so much that even our waitress commented that perfume isn't supposed to be served in bottle size doses. we ended up moving, and usually restaurant managers are very understanding.

we also had an offensive waiter at CPK recently - my stepfather is literally allergic to most perfumes - and boy did he flip out. the manager there switched our server, and then chewed ours out near the bar.

[grrranamal]

You've got my vote and judging from these replies I also think you found your cabinet members!

Together we can change the world....one bottle of perfume at a time....

What do you think about steep fines for celebrities who name fragrances after themselves?....