Club del Doge apologised, saying it was “sorry to have created an inconvenience for a guest,” and would “take advantage of our mistake to improve ourselves.”

“Now we will ask all customers which card they prefer,” the management added.

The incident has sparked a heated debate in the Italian hospitality industry.

Andrea Berton, a Michelin-star chef in Milan said that they have always given “the blind menu” to women by default but admitted it was not always necessary.

Women pay in ‘one out of four cases’

“It is a bit anachronistic because, if I think of couples, in one out of four cases the woman pays,” he added.

“The idea that women don’t pay is outdated,” said Davide Oldani, another famous Italian chef in Milan. “In the past at school we were taught to give menus without prices to women. But luckily things have evolved.”

Carlo Cracco, a famous Italian chef and owner of Milan’s Ristorante Cracco, said: “We have been delivering the menu with prices to everyone for at least 4-5 years, unless there is an explicit request to avoid it.”

Antonia Klugmann, the chef at her “Argine a Vencò,” was even sharper: “In 17 years I have never delivered a menu without prices, unless they asked me to. I myself, if I were a guest, would like to know how much the other pays. ”

It is not the first time blind menus have sparked a controversy in Europe.

Last November, a post by Augustina Gandolfo, an Argentinian influencer, went viral after denouncing what happened to her as she was dining with her partner, football player Lautaro Martinez, in one of the fancy restaurants of Milan’s luxurious Galleria neighbourhood.

“I am outraged. The worst thing is that many Italians justify this by saying it happens only in restaurants of a certain level. And so women can’t pay a more expensive dinner?”, she asked.

And in 2017, Jay Rayner, the Observer critic, slammed the famous restaurant “Le Cinq” in Paris for a similar reason.