It was the wail heard round the dining world. This past Saturday night Chicago chef Grant Achatz tweeted that someone brought a baby to his three Michelin-starred Alinea and that the other diners might not have been quite so happy about it: "Tbl brings 8mo.Old. It cries. Diners mad. Tell ppl no kids? Subject diners 2crying?"
Immediately the twitterverse was ripe with questions. An 8-month old baby? Does Alinea have a puree menu? How awesome must the high chairs be at the restaurant known for its creative and innovative in-house design? Can I bring MY baby? The answers there are: Yes. No. No high chairs, the infant sat on the Mom's lap the whole time. And maybe not.
Reactions were swift and judgmental, in the way that social media does best. Some folks were outraged — if you can afford Alinea, you can afford a babysitter was a common thread. Some were sympathetic to the parents who may have had a last minute babysitter cancellation and had little choice but to bring the tyke since Alinea operates on a prepaid ticketing system. Oh and of course an
@AlineaBaby twitter account was launched, perhaps before the beleagured family had even finished their meal.
The incident has reinvigorated the whole banning kids from restaurant debate, so we wanted to get our members' take on the controversy: Should there be rules about kids in restaurants? What are the rules in your restaurant? Do you take your kids out to eat? And is it ever cool to tweet about guests?