Are the trendy new restaurants of today in the business of hospitality or hostility? Well, judging by recent events involving members of my own family, I am inclining towards the latter.
An argument ensued, and while it was going on, my niece realised that a male customer, dressed in identical style, was allowed inside. Excuse me? A man is allowed to dress comfortably and wear sneakers to go to an allegedly ‘trendy’ joint, but women are not? So, all women must sport a certain glamorous look to pass your vibe check, while men get a free pass? It’s been weeks since this incident and despite registering a complaint, nobody from the ‘trendy’ restaurant/bar has called them to apologise, let alone return the booking amount that they have paid. You see what I mean when I say these places seem to have replaced hospitality with hostility. This is the most recent example of this kind of snooty behaviour from restaurants. A few months back my husband went for an afternoon meeting to a five-star hotel, wearing his summer uniform of jeans, linen shirt and open-toed sandals. Rather than make a scene, my husband and his associates moved their meeting. My stepson has been barred from restaurants for wearing sandals – which, frankly, are the only kind of footwear that makes sense in the Indian summer.
When she pointed this out, she was told, “Oh, that’s different, he’s a man. He was stopped at the door by a waiter who said their dress code did not allow open-toed footwear for men.
