Alinea chef Grant Achatz in crying baby controversy
ONE couple brought their eight-month-old to a fine dining restaurant that costs $250 just to book a table. The baby wouldn't stop crying. So the chef had to say something.
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SHOULD babies be allowed in fine dining restaurants?
One top chef is rethinking his policy after a couple brought their crying 8-month-old to dinner.
Grant Achatz, from Chicago restaurant Alinea, did not ask the couple to leave but tweeted about the incident afterwards.
Tbl brings 8mo.Old. It cries. Diners mad. Tell ppl no kids? Subject diners 2crying? Ppl take infants 2 plays? Concerts? Hate saying no,but..
— Grant Achatz (@Gachatz) January 12, 2014This sparked a flurry of retweets and responses, with most punters saying that babies had no place in a restaurant that costs around $US250 ($279) upfront just to get on a waiting list for a table.
@Gachatz I would not have been pleased. Unless we had a sitter, we did no fine dining when we had a child that age. Not fair to others.
— Scott Edelman (@scottedelman) January 12, 2014@Gachatz people pay a lot of money to eat with you. Many are escaping their kids for the night. Age limit is fine.
— Micki Maynard (@CulinaryWoman) January 12, 2014@Gachatz I agree 100%. Little kids do not belong in high end restaurants. And they don't want to be there either. Hire a babysitter people!
— Lesley Chesterman (@lesleychestrman) January 12, 2014Mr Achatz told Good Morning Americathat the baby ruined the experience for other diners.
"I could hear it crying in the kitchen," he said.
"We want people to come and enjoy and experience Alinea for what it is, but we also have to be cognisant of the other 80 people that came in to experience Alinea that night."
Since the furore a parody account pretending to be the baby in question has popped up on Twitter.
Hey @Gachatz - let me tweet you my side of the story.
— AlineaBaby (@AlineaBaby) January 12, 2014What do you think? Should babies be banned from fine dining restaurants or should parents be allowed to bring their children? Leave a comment below.
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