When a woman planned to celebrate her grandmother’s birthday in style, she never imagined the celebration would be marred by a hefty charge for cake cutting.

In a shocking twist, an Italian restaurant reportedly charged €58 (£48) merely to slice up a birthday cake. The incident occurred during a special outing orchestrated by businesswoman Gessica Geca, who chose a Southern Arezzo eatery for her grannys big day.

Ahead of the occasion, Gessica had cleared it with the restaurant to bring in a celebratory cake. Yet, post-meal, she found herself gawking at a total bill of €659 (£554), inclusive of that notorious cake-cutting fee.

Local news outlet Corriere Fiorentino conveyed Gessicas disapproval, as she remarked on being blindsided by what she felt was an exorbitant fee for such a simple service. The story, gaining momentum on Facebook, sparked a flurry of commentary.

Reflecting on the public reaction, Gessica stated: “I didn’t expect so much fuss. I consider the amount charged to be disproportionate to the service provided, which is why I decided to share the bill in a Facebook group.”

She added: “I accompanied my grandmother to the cashier, as she insisted on paying.”

Gessica was left in shock when an employee handed her a hefty bill, justified by the establishment’s norm to charge for serving sweets.

Recounting the pricey incident to La Nazione, she expressed her disbelief: “In my opinion, this is too much.”

Meanwhile, the owner of the restaurant, who requested anonymity, explained to the Italian media website he does not charge a service fee when he serves his own dishes. 

He said: “My restaurant needs to pay the waiter, the dishwasher and other related services. We need to recover these costs somehow.”

However, he admitted if he was present during the incident, he would have acted differently and offered a discount to the birthday girl. He concluded: “It’s better to cut 50 euros and make people happy than to deal with a misunderstanding where everyone loses out.”