Italian restaurateur has brilliant idea to award polite children

It's a well-known, stereotypical scene: Italian children plaguing customers' lunches at restaurants with their rowdy behaviour under the benevolent glance of their parents.

It happens so frequently that a restaurateur came up with a brilliant idea to solve the nuisance -- a 5 percent discount for "polite" children.

Antonio Ferrari, who owns the eponymous wine bar in the city of Padua, introduced the offer after spotting a family of 11 people sitting at one of his tables.

The group included five children who, as their parents conversed amiably with a glass of wine, sat with "much composure" playing with markers, drawing pens and colouring books.

"It happens so rarely," he wrote in a Facebook post accompanied by the discounted bill:

The party, who were chuffed by the news, left a €30 (£25) tip, according to Ferrari, who confessed he copied the idea from a restaurant in Miami.

"I imagine how difficult parenting is today," he told Corriere della Sera. "I acted instinctively, it was amazing to see how they interacted with each other in that table, with such composure."

"The parents were more or less my age, they were in their 40s, while the children were aged between 4 and 6. I didn't know them well to congratulate them, it was their first time in my restaurant, so I opted for the discount."

Bravo, Antonio!