Restaurant owner speaks out after chef was fired for 'refusing to put pinapple on pizza'

Being in favor of pineapple pizza may have cost many people a match on a dating app, but one man's hatred of it cost him his job.

Davide Tamburella was fired from La Costa restaurant in Queensland, after a number of people had complained about the chef's behavior - allegedly including refusing to put pineapple on pizza for guests at a function.

Tamburella consulted Australia's Fair Work Commission to claim he had been unfairly dismissed from the role. Here, he said that ‘putting pineapple on a pizza is an insult to his culture,' as per a court ruling released on Tuesday (3 November). It was also noted that the incident in question was the third time that the chef had refused to use the fruit on pizzas in the past four years.

Does pineapple belong on pizza? (Getty Stock)

As per the BBC, he had asked his boss to 'check how important it is for Italians not to put pineapple on a pizza.' Now, his former boss, Mr Ingram has spoken out, and he's acknowledged that the fruit isn't a classic topping for Italians.

“Who would have thought that pineapple on a pizza would cause such a debate across the world?” he said to The Age.

“With Italians they’re very traditional when it comes to their food, especially pizza,” he said, speaking about the incident at the now closed restaurant.

“But at the end of the day, we’re not in Italy. We’re in Australia and we have to go with what the customers’ reasonable requests are," he added.

He also told the outlet that pineapplegate wasn't the sole reason Tamburella was let go from his position, and claimed there had been 'an overall contribution of multiple factors.'

Tamburella's application for unfair dismissal was not successful as he entered it more than 20 days after he was let go.

Tamburella's former boss, Mr Ingram has spoken out (7News)

He later told the Commission that this was due to the fact he 'needed to collect all the data he required.'

Commissioner Jennifer Hunt dismissed the case, claiming there were no exceptional circumstances for an extension.

Does pineapple belong on pizza?

Well, it depends on who you ask.

The 'trend' however, didn't start in Italy. In fact, it's been traced back to Canada, in the 1960s.

Although from word of mouth it may seem that more people dislike it then like it, a poll proves different.

A 2017 YouGov poll found that 82% of people surveyed liked pineapple as a whole. However, only 53% liked it on their pizza.

12% disliked it, while 29% hated it.

We'll always be team pineapple...