Lady Gaga family restaurant 'worse than herpes'

The New York restaurant owned by Lady Gaga's parents has been panned as ''a weird facsimile of a restaurant".

And that was one of the nicer comments that reviewer Michael Kaminer from the New York Daily News had to say about Joanne Trattoria, Joe and Cynthia Germanotta’s Upper West Side restaurant, which he gives 1 star.
Kaminer says he went to the restaurant with an open mind despite his colleagues portraying Joanne Trattoria as ''the worst thing since herpes."
''When a restaurant charges $US18 for fried calamari, should the dish arrive so sloppily plated that it looks like the kitchen threw it back in the bowl after dropping it? Should the appetiser glow with grease or boast more breadcrumbs than squid? And should the accompanying marinara sauce taste like a powdered mix?'' Kaminer asks.
''Any goodwill you muster will go out the window when you notice “Expresso” — yes, with an “x” — for $US5 on Joanne’s menu. It’s more like concentrated Sanka, but you’ll need it to avoid choking on a tiramisu cake ($US14) whose desiccated base holds gelatinous cream tasting vaguely of plastic.''
The reviewer says the place is "charmless and generic" and wonders how the restaurant's namesake, Joe's sister Josephine, feels about having her name attached.
He says the absence of head chef Art Smith (who was once Oprah Winfrey's personal chef) is "palpable".