To let Dc play switch in a Michelin star restaurant?

[GCSquirrel]

Dc is 7yo. I was supposed to be going for a 6 course tasting tomorrow evening but due to my friend’s childcare issues (her dh was supposed to be having her dc plus my 7yo for a sleepover but he’s got Covid) she had to cancel. It was booked using a voucher and as it’s such short notice if we don’t go tomorrow the voucher will be cancelled.

The restaurant have said they’re fine with dc coming as long as he isn’t disruptive. Dc is generally pretty well behaved but I’ve eaten at this restaurant before and the whole thing takes a good 2.5 hours. I think he would actually enjoy the food and the experience but obviously it’s a long time for a 7yo to sit still and be relatively quiet. If I let him play with his switch if he starts to get a bit fidgety he is absolutely guaranteed to be quiet. He got a new Pokémon game for it for Christmas and is obsessed with it.

If you went out for a posh meal would you be irritated if there was a kid playing switch there? I don’t know if I’m being really selfish to consider it but it was a really expensive voucher and I do like food.

I think that will be absolutely fine OP
Nobody will hear it

Can your sister not have them both at your house and you can take a friend?

Why on earth should it matter when in the proceedings the switch comes out ?

If I was in a posh expensive restaurant, I'd much rather have a 7 yr old engrossed in their own game, not listening to other tables conversations, than have to endure performance parenting i-spy.

Because it gives him an opportunity to practice sitting still first and learning how to behave in a restaurant.
I’ve been posting about this on another thread this morning too, the thread about children playing on loud tablets on trains.
Fair enough if the OP thinks that her DC can’t behave in an adult fashion for a full 2.5h, but he should be encouraged to do so for as long as he can, before bringing out the device. Or how else will he learn? This is what childhood is for - encountering new and challenging situations and learning how to deal with them.

I was sat at a Michelin place several years ago and Natalie Portman was on the next table. Her kid was there playing on an iPad, headphones on.

Just a name drop.

I don't know many adults who play lego or ispy at Michelin restaurants, but then I don't go to them that often, so perhaps that is normal behaviour.

Just to elaborate on my previous post, we played games with DS many times when he was younger when we took him out - to family friendly restaurants where the sound of our discussions, or the odd game of UNO wasn't going to disturb anyone's evening.

In a seriously expensive Michelin restaurant I feel the focus should be on not spoiling anyone else's evening and being as unobtrusive as if it was just adults eating. If this is best achieved by an electronic device, then great.

I'm not sure what that has to do with DCs playing devices on trains. Again if they were on silent it's none of my business, it's the noise that is the issue, but on a train I would totally expect games of i-spy etc when young children are there.

If the restaurant have said it's ok then of course you should go, and take the Switch. Your DS will remember the experience forever, tasting menus are amazing for the drama as much as the flavours!
Enjoy

Silent is fine

I would be livid if I had splashed out on a Michelin star restaurant, only to find myself seated on a table near a child. I have a DS myself, and would never be as inconsiderate to others as to bring him to an obviously adult oriented venue.

What exactly are you expecting to get out of the experience OP? You'll be dining by yourself, with no one to have adult conversation with, and having to keep one eye on your son while you eat. You are likely to have a rather pointless, frustrating experience, rather than an enjoyable meal, and create the negative externality of pissing the other nearby diners off.

The fact that you're canvassing for opinions on AIBU, suggests that, deep down, you know that it would be an extremely inconsiderate thing to do.

If you sat down near me, I would be requesting to move tables ASAP.

I can honestly say I wouldn't be silently judging @CornishGem1975 but then I have an autistic child so I'm really used to parents of neurotypical parents casting disapproving glances in my direction. They used to destroy me but I've got tougher over the years. Have a great day

But @Scroogette surely it depends on what the DC does. If it's quietly sitting there with headphones on playing on a device, I'm not sure how it would impact your evening at all.

However if the adult was playing i-spy or loudly encouraging them to taste the dishes "Look Tarquin a sea urchin, can you describe the delicious flavour and texture to me" then yes, I'd likely move as well.

Agree with others - on silent is fine.

@rookiemere my anecdotal experience is that, nine times out of ten, parents will be doing the latter of your two examples, so I wouldn't waste time sitting on edge waiting for the potential noise to start.

Also, if it's an extended tasting menu, I'd be very surprised if any child of 7 could keep quiet for that long. What starts out as unobtrusive could ruin the later courses.

I find people bringing young kids to expensive, adult oriented restaurants both "unpleasant" and selfish.

You need to find restaurants that don’t admit children then. Many Michelin starred restaurants do and the restaurant that the OP is going to is one.

There were children a starred restaurant we went to at New year. I didn't notice if they had games/screens but they were well behaved and quieter than some adults.

I think well behaved is the key. Hopefully he'll enjoy what is a pretty nice experience.

Yes, I do. I also request not to be seated near kids when I book an evening meal in any restaurant when it's a child free night and I have booked a babysitter. I am not paying for a meal and childcare only to be subjected to another child's noise.

You must struggle in life if you really are so intolerant of children. I mean the pesky things get everywhere.

That's true and I didn't ask what you thought of my response but you seem to be providing it...isn't that interesting.

Discussing this with OH and he reminded me that the last Michelin restaurant tasting menu meal we had lasted nearly 5 hours. !!!

I’ve been fortunate enough to be taken to many Michelin starred restaurants in a previous job. It’s rarely the children who make a disturbance - if there is any - it’s the adults.

I am not intolerant of children, as I would not have had one if that were the case. I am intolerant of kids in completely non kid appropriate contexts (high end restaurants, late night theatre performances, etc.)
Unlike many on this thread, I accepted that once I had a kid, there were places that I should only go to if I could get a babysitter.