Dear Urban Diplomat: Can I confront parents who bring a wailing newborn to an upscale restaurant?

Dear Urban Diplomat,
My husband and I went to Toca at the Ritz-Carlton for our anniversary dinner. Around 9 p.m., a newborn-toting couple settled into the corner booth, and seconds later, the wailing began. We were irked, especially when the couple tried for 10 minutes to soothe in situ rather than in the lobby. Would we have been so wrong to say something?
—For Crying Out Loud, Cliffside

I, too, am of the opinion that people who bring babies to fancy restaurants should be run out of town on a rail. If there’s a sommelier, a pianist or a temperature-controlled cheese cave, it’s best to leave Junior at home. However, Toca is a hotel restaurant and must accommodate all manner of guests—they even have kid-appropriate plastic sippy cups on hand. While you would have been overstepping to say something to the parents, you certainly could have asked the staff to usher Mom or Dad and the little bundle of brimstone to a more private space nearby, so that you and your fellow diners could eat in peace.

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