A Morwell woman was shocked when she was refused service of a meal to cater to her dietary requirements at a Morwell bistro.
Two years ago Rosemary Jones underwent a full stomach reconstruction which allows her to only eat small amounts of pureed food.
On Sunday evening Ms Jones made three attempts to order a meal suitable for her stomach condition, while dining with friends, including a bowl of soup, a bowl of pureed vegetables and a bowl of soft pumpkin, but was refused each request.
Morwell Club was holding its regular Sunday night buffet and staff insisted Ms Jones pay full price for four pieces of pumpkin or a bowl of soup and were unable to puree a meal.
“I asked for four pieces of pumpkin so I could sit there and mash it with gravy, and she (a waitress) said ‘no, $21.90’,” Ms Jones said.
“I said ‘I’m on vitamised meals, I can’t eat a normal meal because I’ve had a complete stomach reconstruction, I’ve been on pureed food for two years’.”
Ms Jones said she felt “humiliated” and thought she had been treated as if she had a “disease”.
“I demanded to speak to the assistant manager and she wouldn’t get them and she said ‘sorry we can’t serve you’,” Ms Jones said.
“I’ve had no problems with any other restaurants except that one, it’s made me feel that small, everyone in the restaurant just looked at me when they refused me.”
With confusion over health regulations, the bistro previously declined Ms Jones’ offer to bring in a sealed jar of baby food, her usual source of sustenance.
The Express spoke to the Department of Health Victoria which said sealed jars of baby food were not prohibited from being brought into restaurants, as if they were sealed, they were not the responsibility of the venue.
“Everywhere I go I get people looking at me because I’m eating baby food, I’m sick of it, I’m getting to the point where I just don’t want to eat anymore and I only weigh 44 kilos,” Ms Jones said.
After The Express spoke to the restaurant, a spokesperson said in future if Ms Jones was to request a special meal, she would either need to provide prior notice or present her jar of baby food to staff for inspection to ensure it was sealed.
“All we need is a bit of advance warning that someone is coming and they want something slightly different. The reason behind it is that you can’t expect everyone to walk in and say I want this pureed,” the bistro spokesperson said.
