Video Shows Worm Found In Food At Asbury Park Restaurant

A New Jersey family took a video of a parasitic worm slinking in their food this past weekend – and then dealt with a heap of backlash from the restaurant that served it.

The restaurant eventually changed its tune and made a big change as a result of the discovery.

Jim Guinee of Middletown told Patch that his girlfriend saw the worm rolling around in her food while they were eating at the Stella Marina Bar & Restaurant in Asbury Park on Saturday evening.

They were celebrating the 80th birthday of Guinee's aunt Dot when Jen Morzano cut around the skin and saw the worm.

"She says it will be a memorable one for sure," Guinee said of his aunt's reaction to the discovery.

---See the video below---

"Jen, my girlfriend, and a pescatarian (a person who does not eat meat but does eat fish) for over 20 years, encountered the uninvited guest in her dinner," Guinee told Patch. "Hopefully, people learn to use caution and make sure their cod is fully cooked."

Guinee, an attorney, posted the video to Facebook Saturday night – drawing the wrath of the restaurant which said that "ownership, management, and employees are very surprised at the callousness and irresponsible reaction of an attorney of law to attempt to destroy our reputation."

"We at Stella Marina do our very best to purchase the freshest and highest quality food products, and that includes our seafood," the restaurant said. "We take every precaution while preparing and cooking meals for the public."

"With that being said, one of our seafood purveyors did send us Saturday's cod and missed the small worms that were found by two of our guests, located in the center of their piece of fish," the restaurant continued. "We immediately halted serving this dish. We also compensated the family of eight generously and expressed our sincere concern and apologies that one our guests had anything less than an amazing experience at our restaurant."

The statement was originally posted on Facebook, but the restaurant has removed the post. The restaurant provided another statement to Patch on Tuesday, saying that cod has been removed from the menu (see below).

Guinee took the Stella Marina's reaction in stride. But he did take the restaurant to task for saying: "It should therefore be emphasized that the presence of worms in fish offered for sale does not imply carelessness or bad practice on the part of the processor or retailer."

"People keep saying it’s common and could happen even if you were cooking it for yourself at home," Guinee said. "Guess what? Food can be burned, too, as often happens when I cook for myself at home.

"That’s why people pay a premium to go out to fancy restaurants and let professionals prepare their meals."

Here is the video:

Here is the restaurant's full response, provided on Tuesday by Joe Cetrulo, owner of Stella Marina Bar & Restaurant:

"Stella Marina, which means star of the sea in Italian, is an award-winning rustic yet classic Italian restaurant located on the boardwalk in Asbury Park, NJ. The taste of Stella Marina comes from quality ingredients sourced from our gourmet purveyors and highly trained kitchen staff. We proudly offer fresh, never frozen, seafood on our menu that is delivered daily.

"Stella Marina is dedicated to ensuring that our guests enjoy a safe and delicious experience. For the past 10 years, we have proudly served thousands of customers without incident until this past weekend and for that, we apologize.

"Out of an abundance of caution, cod has since been removed from our menu.

"The safety and happiness of our guests is our highest priority and we are proactively working to further guarantee our kitchen maintains the rigorous standards we are known for."

YouTube photo/video