Everyone’s favourite celebrity chef and good food advocate has left parents shocked following his recent decision to ban prams from his Cornwall restaurant, Fifteen. Especially so, since Jamie himself is a father, having recently welcomed the fifth baby Oliver into the brood.
You’d think with that many children under his belt Jamie would be all too aware of the struggles of getting the kids out of the house?
Jamie recently welcomed his fifth baby, a boy. Image: Jamie Oliver
One mother told The Sun that she was made aware of the new rule after carting her pram down the stairs with her sleeping child inside. She said "Despite our child being asleep and there being empty tables with lots of space around them, we were told this was the policy."
"Considering Jamie has five kids we were very shocked," she added.
The decision was made following discussions between management and staff which aimed to address space issues within the seaside restaurant.
"We don't have room for pushchairs in the restaurant," representatives confirmed in a statement.
Fifteen say that they don't have room for prams and strollers in the restaurant. Image: istock
Management says that the ban is not one on children but rather asks parents to make use of capsules or the restaurants own highchairs if dining with kids.
"The baby would need to be included in the number of people booked for the table so we have enough room to pop a chair there for the carseat to sit on, or for a highchair if they are awake."
I can see both sides of the argument. As a parent life is much easier if you can leave a sleeping child in their pram. If my baby is awake I know that the pram is a much better option as she easily gets out of most high chairs.
Not only that but I'm not comfortable leaving my pram outside a location after I had my stroller stolen during a zoo trip where prams were banned. Parents were asked to leave their strollers outside during the seal show and when we returned someone had helped themselves to my stroller. Not only was it a huge pain in the arse getting around with three kids and no pram but those things are expensive.
Jamie Oliver makes pizzas with Petal and Buddy.
But from a restaurant point of view I can also see why the decision has been made. You've got waiters walking with hot meals, drinks on trays and people moving around the space.
It becomes not only an inconvenience to other diners and staff but also a safety issue. If the area is small and parents have their strollers and prams sticking out from tables it opens up the possibility of people being hurt and staff not being able to do their job properly.
I'm sure parents would much prefer a child in a highchair to one scalded by a hot meal dropped after a waiter tripped over the back of a pram.
What do you think? Do you feel the decision is a fair one?
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