What's a children menu? page 3

[noodletoy]

It depends. In the better restaurants, the children's menu has items from the regular menu, but in smaller portions (and lower cost). In chain-type restaurants, the children's menu contains garbage, which is what the adults are often eating as well.

sorry, but as someone who has spent my career in fine dining, "better" restaurants do not have children's menus. the chefs are intense and chasing james beard awards and michelin stars and not keeping chicken nuggets in the freezer for little picky precious who really should be home in bed.

i am in my 40s and do not remember going out and ever seeing a kid's menu. ever. there was one meal cooked for everybody for dinner. my mom's kitchen was not a cafeteria and food wasn't served 24 hours a day. we ate 3 meals that mom cooked from scratch. meat, veg, starch, salad. my dad took me to ethnic holes-in-the-wall in nyc. my italian immigrant family made gutsy, bold, flavorful foods. food was an essential building block for "family time" and the love of it was central.

i remember being brought to tears by the appearance and taste of tuna helper at a friend's house when i was like 6. i had to go home!

there are many families who eat out several times per week. that they can afford it is one thing, but that they willingly feed their kids nuggets and hot dogs and soda and french fries instead of whole healthy food is abominable to me. there are ways to eat out and still feed the kids decently. as many have suggested, splitting adult portions works great.

but feeding and raising your kids on this junk is setting them up for severe sickness and food issues as adults.

[zoebird]

I agree. We cook meals for all of us, and DS eats what we eat. He always has (baby lead weaning!), and as such, is a foodie.

He also has table manners. They are very important to me, and so we started him on real silverware at 11 months, and we started him on napkin use and proper table manners in general around 18 months. He's quite capable of handling himself in a restaurant.

He loves cooking, watching master chef, and loves local "celebrity" chef Al Brown. He met Al Brown at the farmer's market, got his cookbook signed, and had a discussion with him about how much he (DS) likes cooking eggs. He also discussed how much he wants to try "all foods!" and that he'd like to go to Logan Brown.

We have called the restaurant and suggested that DS come at the tail-end of the lunch service (kitchen closes at 3), so as not to disturb any other customers, even though we *know* that DS would not disrupt any other customers. He's simply so well mannered, people are generally amazed at his behavior.

I know 10-13 yr olds who can't manage basic table manners for fine dining -- and I'm shocked that such is so. I remember having a conversation with a woman who, to encourage her children to use proper table manners, said "we'll take you to Logan Brown" (it's a big deal here to go to LB). They have been "working on it" for two years. My kid is 4. He had it down pat by age 2. Seriously?

Anyway, we discussed with the manager that the tasting menu would probably be the best, and if DS could have some time to talk with the chef, that would also be very special for him for his birthday (since the usual chef is not AB, as AB is an owner and sometimes there, but not always, KWIM?). But, it may be that DS will be able to see AB again, and discuss the food that he is served on the tasting menu. He'll probably be over the moon!

I really only point this out because I believe that my son *does* belong at LB. Sure, not at 8:30 at night when he's too exhausted to be anything but a little crab, but I think that lunch or an early dinner servicec would be fine for him -- as he has the manners to manage himself very well.

He also knows that if he doesn't behave as a gentleman, we go home. Period.

And the last thing that boy wants to miss out on is good food.

[zoebird]

DS is more of a foodie than we are, even. He's very adventurous, and often encourages us to try things. "mom, really, you have to try this. The texture is amazing, and the seasoning is perfect!" (he watches SO MUCH master chef. lol)

He literally thinks that chicken livers are chicken nuggets. He loves chicken livers. And, they are expensive here, really (relatively speaking), so they are a "special treat!" I made the "popper" ones that saorise mentioned in a post somewhere -- pineapple, chicken liver, wrapped in prochutto (sp?). DS was *over the moon!*. "So good, a perfect balance of salty, sweet, and a bit of savory!" I'd skewered them on rosemary before baking them.

Kid loves food. I love that he loves food.

[SentWest]

I'm 30, and don't remember seeing much of kid's menus as a kid either, aside from at IHOP and McDonalds (where my mom took me to train me to act decent in real restaurants).

I guess I got lucky. We made one dinner at home and if I didn't eat it my folks were fine with me starving for a night. My mom loved liver and kidneys and gizzards, and my dad loved Vietnamese and Thai food, so I ended up less than picky. Also, I was required to have at least three bites of everything on the plate, no matter how gross I thought it was.

I agree, we really should push to elimiate the whole kid food vs. adult food thing. Not healthy physically or psychologically.