Scram, kids.<\/p>\n
A Canadian restaurant that bills itself as \u201cthe place to be for people with good taste\u201d is at the center of a dining debate among parents and customers alike after announcing it would ban children under 15.<\/p>\n
Miss Christine\u2019s Kitchen, a Jamaican restaurant slated to open its new Winnipeg location on November 30, has been enticing its customers with images of braised oxtail, jerk chicken, fried plantains\u2026and a controversial policy regarding children. <\/p>\n
Miss Christine\u2019s Kitchen, a Jamaican restaurant on Ellice Avenue in Winnipeg, Manitoba, announced a ban on dine-in customers under the age of 15. Facebook\/Miss Christine’s Restaurant<\/p>\n
Per the eatery, no one under 15 will be welcome. <\/p>\n
Eponymous chef and owner Christine Pattison announced the restriction in a social media post last week. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt Miss Christine\u2019s Kitchen, we strive to create a warm, cozy and relaxing atmosphere where our guests can enjoy great food, good company and memorable dining experiences,\u201d she wrote. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe provide a comfortable, intimate setting for adults to get away, unwind and enjoy quality time \u2014 whether it\u2019s a romantic evening, a special meeting or simply a chance to relax and recharge.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo maintain the intimate setting of our restaurant, our dining room welcomes guests ages 15 and older. We kindly ask that you respect our dining policy as we work to provide every guest with a true Miss Christine\u2019s Dining Experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some folks applauded her choice, responding to the Facebook post with relief and promises to patronize her new spot. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs a father of three kids under 8 years old, I fully support this. Not everywhere needs to accommodate kids,\u201d said one supportive dad. <\/p>\n
The social media post announcing the restriction sparked divisive discourse. Facebook\/Miss Christine’s Restaurant<\/p>\n
\u201cAs someone who is child-free, there should actually be more restaurants that implement this,\u201d said another. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll gladly leave my kids home to eat in an adult-only restaurant,\u201d said a third. <\/p>\n
Others were appalled. <\/p>\n
While Pattison scrubbed the original negative comments from her socials, an interview with CTV News gave some the chance to air their grievances. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf it\u2019s a restaurant, there should be no age limit. It\u2019s not like it\u2019s a bar where you\u2019re serving drinks. I think parents should have the right to take their children to a restaurant,\u201d said one dissenter. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe live in a world right now that is excluding enough people. And by excluding youngsters from going to restaurants with their families and friends \u2014 I think our world needs more inclusion instead of exclusion,\u201d railed another to the same outlet.<\/p>\n
A mother and grandmother, Pattison defended her choice to restrict the age of entry. Facebook\/Miss Christine’s Restaurant<\/p>\n
Many cited that the policy was a human rights violation. <\/p>\n
More outwardly hostile opps went as far as to post fraudulent negative reviews, giving single stars and allegedly fabricating tales of food poisoning and server misconduct\u2026despite the restaurant not having servers or dine-in options available. <\/p>\n
Another reviewer called Pattison a \u201cdrama farmer\u201d who relied on \u201cAI slop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pattison has posted these negative reviews to the restaurant\u2019s Facebook page to illustrate the backlash and has lobbied to have them removed from their respective review platforms.<\/p>\n
Miss Christine\u2019s Kitchen is slated to open its doors to diners 15 and up on November 30. Facebook\/Miss Christine’s Restaurant<\/p>\n
A mother and grandmother, Pattison defended her choice to restrict the age of entry in an interview with the Winnipeg Free Press.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy is it fair for my customers to work hard for their money, come to have a nice experience and then have kids running around?\u201d the 55-year-old asked. <\/p>\n
Pattison explained that during her long tenure in the restaurant business, she noticed children were a consistent disturbance to diners, underscoring that customers often made later reservations or requested fringe tables to avoid them. <\/p>\n
Pattison emphasized that her intimate restaurant has little to offer little ones. Facebook\/Miss Christine’s Restaurant<\/p>\n
Pattison knows the controversial policy may cost her some diners but has faith her customers will support her and order takeout instead if they have young children. Further, she notes that her intimate restaurant has little to offer little ones. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are you bringing a child to a darkly lit restaurant that seats 30 people with nothing to entertain children? You\u2019re ruining that child\u2019s experience,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Despite a chorus of complaints, Pattison doubled down, telling CTV News she is \u201csticking to her guns.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite a chorus of complaints, Pattison doubled down, telling CTV News she is \u201csticking to her guns.\u201d Facebook\/Miss Christine’s Restaurant<\/p>\n
She explained that she decided to ban kids from the restaurant because she believes adults \u201cdeserve a break.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not like [kids] can\u2019t eat my food. You have the option of picking up\u2026 so I don\u2019t see where the [claims of] discrimination are coming in,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, Pattison posted that she had received word from the Manitoba Human Rights Commission, which stated that you have to \u201cprove discrimination\u201d resulted in \u201csome sort of trauma\u201d to warrant an investigation. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey said it\u2019s all good,\u201d posted Pattison. \u201cThat\u2019s all I\u2019m going to say about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pattison\u2019s preference for an adults-only experience is echoed in larger trends. <\/p>\n
Last month, JetBlue and Virgin Voyages teamed up to deliver \u201cDo Not Disturb,\u201d a first-of-its-kind 18-and-up experience.<\/p>\n
The blissfully unaccompanied passengers will hop on an adults-only, chartered JetBlue flight that takes off from New York\u2019s John F. Kennedy International Airport \u2014 landing at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Scram, kids. A Canadian restaurant that bills itself as \u201cthe place to be for people with good taste\u201d is at the center of a dining debate among parents and customers alike after announcing it would ban children under 15. Miss Christine\u2019s Kitchen, a Jamaican restaurant slated to open its new Winnipeg location on November 30,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55715,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[30250,36132,769,18,7,8],"class_list":["post-55714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-restaurants","tag-children","tag-discrimination","tag-food-drink","tag-lifestyle","tag-restaurant","tag-restaurants"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dnc\/117598849839647046","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}