Earlier today someone forwarded us along the latest complaint from the Brooklyn parenting camp, this one aimed at Cafe Pedlar in Cobble Hill.
The inexplicably traumatized woman wrote, "I wanted to warn others so that they don't have to experience that I did this morning. Our family have been regulars of the Cafe Pedlar since they opened... This morning I went in like normal... I was drinking my coffee and feeding my daughter some fruit and yogurt that I had brought with me, when one of the employees came over to tell me that the owners are now enforcing a policy that prohibits outside food—baby food included, and I either needed to stop feeding my daughter or leave. I was so embarrassed, sad and to be honest, a little angry. To enforce this type of policy at a coffee shop that is so often frequented by parents and families just seems over the top."
Really, the nerve of an establishment wanting to stay in business! We called Pedlar and spoke to an extremely friendly employee, who told us they have always had a no-outside-food policy (again, maybe because they sell food, including fruit, which is what this woman was feeding her child)—but as far as babies and children were concerned, breastfeeding is allowed and if parents can be discreet with snacks for their children, they can give it a shot. This sounds more than reasonable to us, which has us wondering if Brooklyn breeders are just running out of things to stand on their soapboxes about.
