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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to have created a scene in Chez Gerard

139 replies

margoandjerry · 20/03/2007 16:17

Chez Gerard have just opened up on the high st in our small suburban town - it used to be a Cafe Uno which was always very family friendly.

I just went in there (3pm) with my mum and with the baby in pram - the place is huge and was 3/4 empty. The manager came and told us the pram would have to be folded or we would have to leave but a) it doesn't fold much as it's a bugaboo and b) the baby was asleep and would have slept all through lunch and c) it was not in the way at all so why?

He said it would get in the way of wheelchairs (of course there was no one in there in a wheelchair) but there was stacks of room anyway - you could have got a Red Arrows style squadron of wheelchairs through there. They had finished with lunch and there were only about 5 tables in use in the whole place. I said that we used to go there all the time when it was Cafe Uno which is owned by the same group and I even showed him where we used to sit, right at the back away from everyone and not causing the remotest obstruction.

He kept offering a high chair but the baby is too small for that and anyway, was fast asleep. I was furious and ranted away at him and all he could say was "it's company policy".

I wouldn't mind if this was in the City and full of adults at lunchtime or in the evening and full of people wanting a quiet meal together but it was in the middle of the afternoon, quiet as death and the baby was fast asleep.

I think this whole "you'll have to fold the buggy" thing is code for "no babies". Got the same attitude in Baker and Spice last week as well which made me even madder given Baker and Spice's target market which I assume to be posh mums.

I shouldn't really be bothered as we went down the road to a really nice local restaurant (not a chain) instead. Had a lovely meal and were made to feel very welcome. Also just remembered that I saw a mouse once in the Chez Gerard in Covent Garden. Pah. They are incompetent fools.

OP posts:
newgirl · 09/04/2007 19:58

yes we all want to hear what chez gerard have to say on the matter! jeez - they are only selling duff steak and chips and baguettes french stylee after all - they should be grateful for customers

Rosa5 · 09/04/2007 20:06

So I guess this Gerrard chappie won't be on Mumsnet local then ?

crayon · 09/04/2007 20:21

Glad I found this thread. That's another family of five they've lost the custom of then . A bit short sighted really when even mothers go out sometimes without children!

Indith · 09/04/2007 20:29

I am at this thread! This is why I love my fave local independent cafe! They saw me with a growing bump and they coo over ds every time I go in. They don't mind buggies everywhere and if you want to sit upstairs they are more than happy to carry stuff for you.

I've eaten out a few times at various places though and never had anything other than help but there are obviously plenty of people out there who need a boot up the backside.

yellowrose · 09/04/2007 20:37

it pisses me off that most places are child unfriendly

DominiConnor · 10/04/2007 10:46

My experience is that most places are pretty child friendly, and that officially Chez Gerard is "friendly" too, but that it's quality control when choosing managers has gone rather badly wrong.
That's a big challenge for chains, and makes it look like Chez Gerard has expanded past it's ability to run properly.

agnesnitt · 10/04/2007 11:14

We tend to go independents most of the time, although the local chain coffee houses are very bemused by the four year old as she is a fully fledged coffee-shop addict. She's just disgusted that the closest she gets to actual coffee is foamed milk

I wouldn't have stood for the kind of attitude the original poster had to deal with, and I hope the matter was resolved in some way. It is absolutely fine for eateries and drinkeries to not want children on their premises, but they need to be up front about it, saves them wasting their own time and ours too. To advertise a child menus and such and then to throw children out is absurd and to be quite frank makes me want to add this chain to the list of places I'll no longer frequent. The power of words is huge. A friend once had an awful experience at a local coffee-house/cafe (was asked to leave because she was breastfeeding,I kid you not) and as far as I am aware, the group of about thirty people at the mums and toddlers have never frequnted the place since, and they all told their friends that it was an unsuitable place to be with kids, despite the large number of highchairs and such.

Agnes

bundle · 10/04/2007 11:17

the only time anyone ever complained about me breastfeeding dd1 was in Pizza Express, www

powder28 · 10/04/2007 11:26

bundle thats awful. When my dh was working in a restaurant a lady went into labour and her waters broke all over the floor. Some people complained that it had ruined their meal!!

bundle · 10/04/2007 11:29

lol powder!
I know - the manager came over to tell me that a man had complained, she said she felt she had to tell me even though it was company policy to be family friendly.

imo she should have told him his pizza was now a take-away-only option and not bothered me

yellowrose · 10/04/2007 11:32

Ah, but most places ARE child unfriendly, if you find one or two that are great with kids, then good, but my experience of North London and Cambridgeshire is that you can't take a toddler (even a well-behaved one like mine) EVERYWHERE, not the posh sort of place with quality food any way. You can go to most chains, but then most chains have crap food by my standards. My favourite place at the moment is a Japanese rest. (not a chain), staff very prof. they have high chairs for smaller children, ds loves the food and we are all very happy there. Ds won't eat pizza, pasta or fish fingers or burgers or anything of the sort, so in fact i am restricted by his apetite for good fresh food !

bundle · 10/04/2007 11:35

went to Bank for mother's day, it was lovely and child friendly,and lots of colouring for the girls to do - but they were more interested in chatting with the singer inbetween songs

powder28 · 10/04/2007 11:35

You see, this is part of the reason i chose not to breastfeed. I get really flustered anyway if i take the children out, but to feel like you can't just feed your child wherever you like is terrible. I know people say just ignore it but it can be very difficult to ignore things when you have a baby. My hormones didnt calm down for months after i had my two.

bundle · 10/04/2007 11:37

powder, it only happened once, and i bf my 2 dd's for 2 and 3 years respectively (though mainly at home once they were 1+)

powder28 · 10/04/2007 11:39

Maybe i'll have another baby and bf. Wonder what dh would think about that

bundle · 10/04/2007 11:40

i loved bf, powder, but each to their own

kittypants · 10/04/2007 11:41

havent read whole thread but ive never heard of place(im in deepest darkest cornwall)but we have local cafes that have no pushchair signs.so i cant go in.instead i get glared at in beer garden of local pub for having children so we tend to picnic in park.its awful how mums and dads with pushchairs are treated in some of these places.

powder28 · 10/04/2007 11:42

I did try but it made me want to cry it was so painful. I suppose you have to persevere

yellowrose · 10/04/2007 13:15

ah no, i don't have a problem with bf ANYWHERE

if i had ever been told to move it when bf, i WOULD have made a scene, asked for the manager to come forward and given him a bollocking

people not liking to watch bf is not a reason not to bf imo

DominiConnor · 10/04/2007 14:31

I'm a bit surprised as Pizza Express has always been brilliant for us with kids.
Personally I perceive the breastfeeding/hostility to kids thing as a form of bullying sexism.
I'm an ugly looking, bloke with some bulk, we've had precisely one complaint in my presence.
And yes, I responded with vigour and utterly humiliated the bloke in front of his wife and the restaurant.
I don't think it would take many experiences like this to keep bullies from indulging their habit.

But to be honest, it's easy for me, being a bloke. What I haven't worked out is how a mother with kids in tow can do the same thing.

bundle · 10/04/2007 15:10

i was astonished domini connor.

my baby girl was about weeks old, so tiny and virtually up my tshirt (it was summer) if you know what I mean. he was with a big group of people (obviously "told" to enjoy themselves on an office outing ) and they all looked completely embarrassed by his behaviour. it was nearly 7 years ago but I have never forgotten it as I too thought Pizza Express was different and it never happened to be me again (esp living in a muesli munching part of n london)

bundle · 10/04/2007 15:10

meant to say 6 weeks old

yellowrose · 10/04/2007 19:32

bundle me too, ds is now 2.9 and we still bf, i stopped bf in public ages ago though (actually ds didn't want it in public past a certain age any more, too distracted) although unlike dc i am rather attractive and always very well-dressed, so not the average hippy sort bf-er, i never smell of lentils lol...but i am good at scaring the hell out of rude people, despite my 5.2" stature ! it is an acquired skill !

DominiConnor · 10/04/2007 20:06

Bundle I think it's part of the modern culture of "being offended", that's not just religion or race, but people often seek out things that "offend" them even when it requires significant effort.
I suspect the creep would have been "offended" if you'd been enclosed in a tent in a different room.

DimpledThighs · 10/04/2007 20:08

write or email head office and link to this thread.

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