Buonanotte Italian Menu Items Not French Enough: Pasta Is a No, Pizza Is a Go

Buonanotte owner Massimo Lecas: not happy. Photo © Evelyn Reid

This report on Quebec's language police cracking down on Montreal restaurant Buonanotte for employing the word "pasta'' on their menu just came to my attention, citing Charter of the French Language violations such as the use of the word "bottiglia" instead of "bouteille," the French word for bottle.

However, the Office Québécois de la langue française has no qualms with the use of the word "pizza."

Keeping in mind there are two sides to every story and we only have one news report to work with at this point*, what's your take? Is the Office simply doing its job protecting the French language in a North American melting pot of omnipresent English which could theoretically wipe out the language of love if extreme measures are not taken to preserve its use or has it gone off the deep end, ridiculing the province into resembling an insular, backwatered hick in the eyes of the international community, potentially turning them off from collaborating with Quebec while repelling non-Franco masses from wanting to master Molière's tongue altogether?

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*It's safe to assume said report will multiply across news agencies.