Pub refuses to serve apple juice in champagne flute for five-year-old
A pub has refused to serve a five-year-old girl apple juice in a champagne flute because it “encourages alcohol”.
Dr Renée Hoenderkamp, the television doctor, was dining in the restaurant at the Old Bull & Bush in Hampstead, north London, on New Year’s Eve with her husband and daughter when she made a request for all three of them to clink their glasses.
She and her husband were drinking wine in champagne glasses, so they asked a waiter for apple juice to be served in one too so their daughter could join in the celebrations at around 7pm.
But Dr Hoenderkamp, an NHS doctor who hosts a show on TalkTV, says that a manager at the gastropub told her “it could encourage her to drink alcohol and it’s not a great look” and served it in a tumbler instead.
“We have a family habit that every meal we all cheers our glasses together, always, so we were in the restaurant and ordered two glasses of wine and we ordered her an Appletiser, because that was all they had,” she told The Telegraph.
“For me, [the manager] made a judgment that I wasn’t capable of parenting my own child. You know, it’s just a glass.
“It just made no sense but again it’s this nanny state where parents are not allowed to parent.”
She said it was a local pub that she had used for many years, but may well not go back again, and had submitted a complaint.
“We are very good parents and have a child who never has a scream, she sits and talks and plays games with us in the pub; we engage with our child,” she added.
“Every other child in the restaurant was stuck on a screen while the parents downed their champagne and it just felt very judgmental but also very nanny state.”
Dr Hoenderkamp said it was “slow virtue signalling and nanny state wokeness overtaking the world and it wouldn’t surprise me if it then gets into other places”.
The Old Bull & Bush is part of Premium Country Pubs, a brand of the company Mitchells & Butlers.
The pub borders Hampstead Heath, a large park in one of London’s wealthiest suburbs.
Among the stars who have lived in the area include the pop singer Harry Styles, comedian Jonathan Ross and the actor Hugh Laurie.
The Telegraph has contacted Mitchells & Butlers for comment.
