Restaurants get customers to sign legal waivers for leftover food
Some of Sydney’s best restaurants are refusing to allow diners to take home leftovers in a doggy bag unless they sign a legal waiver, in a bid to fight food poisoning claims and dodgy online reviews.
NSW
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You’ve enjoyed a splendid meal at one of Sydney’s best restaurants, and you ask to take home the leftovers in a doggy bag. “Not until you sign a legal waiver,” you are told.
The tactic is being used by some of Sydney’s top chefs to fight food poisoning claims and dodgy online reviews.
Celebrity chef Luke Mangan, who oversees the famed Glass Brasserie at Sydney’s Hilton Hotels, has been joined by the prestigious Park Hyatt Sydney in issuing legally binding “doggy bag” waivers to anyone wanting to take food home.
The document requires the diner to assume responsibility for “certain food safety risks” and “hold harmless” the establishment and its employees for any ill effects they may suffer.
Mr Mangan said the extreme measure was designed to protect against claims of food contamination that were more likely the result of improper food handling or refrigeration than anything that occurred at the restaurant.
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But it’s also designed to protect against diners posting disparaging reviews of his food online, a practice that he claims has cost some restaurateurs their businesses.
“Social media is everything nowadays. There is so much riding on it,” Mr Mangan said.
“This is a way in which we can protect ourselves. It’s a way we can say ‘if you decide to take food from the premises of the restaurant, then what happens after that is no longer our responsibility’.
“Inside a restaurant like Glass there is an extremely high level of health and safety that we must adhere to. I’m happy to stake my reputation on that. But once the food goes home, I don’t think we should be held responsible.”
Mr Mangan has removed his mid-level eatery Luke’s Kitchen from Uber Eats for the same reason.
“The dish leaves the restaurant looking one way and can arrive looking very different and then the diner isn’t happy with us and posts a bad review,” he said.
The tough legal stance is getting high-powered backing. Michael McMahon, who owns the iconic Rose Bay fine diner Catalina, said he was considering enforcing a legal waiver system as a way to counter diner reviews and dodgy gastro claims.
He has already banned patrons from bringing food such as birthday cakes to avoid being held accountable for food poisoning.
“I think the waiver is a fantastic idea and I think we should think about doing it also,” Mr McMahon said.
“Food poisoning is a very, very serious illness. But you have people who go out and get pissed and throw up and call up and say, ‘I’ve got food poisoning from your food’.”
Celebrity chef Matt Moran said doggy bags had long been a problem and he advises his staff to “discourage them strongly”.
“Unless they are really keen on taking something. Then we make sure we explain the food has to be stored within a certain amount of time and not sit in the garage overnight before being eaten and then reviewed online,” he said.
Other restaurants, including Neil Perry’s Rockpool and Spice Temple, stop short of a waiver but time and date-stamp doggy bags.
A Park Hyatt Sydney spokeswoman said a strict waiver policy was enforced.
“When food is taken outside of the venue, we can no longer guarantee the standard of its handling. The waiver form was created to ensure diners are aware of this.”
Originally published as Restaurants get customers to sign legal waivers for leftover food