Photo Illustrationby Sara Jackson/Thinkstock Photos“Tbl brings 8 mo. old. It cries. Diners mad. Tell ppl no kids? Subject diners 2crying? Ppl take infants 2 plays? Concerts? Hate saying no, but.”
That’s a Tweet from Grant Achatz, the chef/owner of Alinea, an upscale restaurant in Chicago that sets a flat, prepaid rate for dinner from its Tasting Menu — $210 to $265 per person. A couple of Saturdays ago, a couple brought their 8-month-old into the restaurant, and the baby proceeded to cry — loudly — throughout the meal.
Most of us have been in a restaurant when a baby is crying nearby or a toddler is being fussy and disruptive. In a Denny’s or McDonald’s, it’s one thing, but in a restaurant that going to cost some serious coin, it’s another.
“‘Do children belong?’ and ‘Are they welcome?’ are two different things,” says Jill Allen, director of public relations for St. John’s Restaurant and Alleia Restaurant in Chattanooga. “I think that’s up to the parent, for sure. We hope that guests use their best judgment in being mindful of other diners’ experience. I think it’s important that people take personal responsibility for their children’s behavior in public.”
The wailing baby incident has been reported on TV and online across the country, sparking both outrage over the parents’ behavior and over the restaurant’s handling of the situation. Achatz, who has since appeared on “Good Morning America” to discuss the incident, could hear the child from the kitchen but didn’t ask the parents to leave since they’d brought the baby because of a last-second cancellation from their babysitter. The parents paid for the meal when they made the reservation, which can’t be refunded but can be transferred.