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Aussie restaurant defends charging $77 to cut up and plate a BYO birthday cake

March 6, 2018

The Breakfast team were divided about the charge, which has been likened to wine corkage.

An Australian fine dining restaurant is defending charging $77 for cutting up and plating a birthday cake some patrons brought along themselves.

A woman, who identified herself only as Sue, called radio station 3AW and told them about the incident, which happened at the Stillwater restaurant in Mornington Peninsula near Melbourne.

"I bought a passionfruit sponge from a local Mornington bakery and it cost $10," Sue said.

She said staff took the cake, refrigerated it and offered to cut and plate it for her group.

"We sang happy birthday and everything... they charged me AU$72 for the cake to be cut.

"If we'd have known we'd have literally cut it with a butter knife."

Stillwater business manager Narelle Richards it was a group of 12 people and the cost was AU$6 per person.

Ms Richards told Yahoo7 that "if we let everyone bring their own food or whatever and not charge them anything, we would go out of business, any business would go out of business".

"The cost includes plating the cake up as a dessert where we put some cream and a berry coulee with it as well ... the guest was informed of the charge before the cutting of the cake."

Owner Jacqui Poulier told the Herald Sun that "this is a fine dining restaurant, not McDonald's, we do pay our staff properly and we'd like people to enjoy their time here".

Ms Poulier said if there was an issue, she would have preferred if the customer had raised it rather than calling a radio station.

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