Dining deluxe
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- August
- 16
My sons—ages 13 and soon-to-be-9—like eating out. Most times, my younger son is happy with a well-cooked burger smothered in ketchup, spaghetti or chicken fingers. (Although he’s in love with a Peruvian chicken and rice dish that’s made at Cholo’s Kitchen in New Rochelle.)
My older son has more champagne taste: Present him with a menu that offers baby lamb chops, lobster, tenderloin, scallops or squid, and he’ll order one of those meals. And he’ll actually eat it. And enjoy it. While he can also chow down on burgers and fries, when he’s in a “real” restaurant, it’s fancy food that he wants.
Apparently, according to a recent news story, he’s not alone: There are a lot of kids who actually enjoy eating upscale. And I’m lucky enough to have one of them. It’s basically OK with us, except on those occasions when we’re hoping to grab a quick, cheap meal, and our son wants Lobster Thermidor.
My son may have acquired his love of fine food from me: When I was a teenager, my friends and I formed a club called C’est Chic, and mostly, we visited fine restaurants in Manhattan. We did rollerskate every now and then (at former The Rink in New Rochelle, which is now the site of my church, New York Covenant, if you can believe that!), but mainly, we ate. Rather, we dined. Exquisitely.
Are your kids into fine dining? What do they enjoy most? And what restaurants are their favorites?
This entry was posted
on Thursday, August 16th, 2007 at 2:32 pm by Gayle T. Williams.
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That’s great Gayle. I love it when kids start to develop sophistocated tastes. High class is definitely the way to go.
I have taken my cousin’s kids to fancy restaurants, and they really took to it, especially the boys, for some reason. They love steak houses like Morton’s, Ruth’s Chris, Sparks, Michael Jordan’s, etc.
They have a much better memory than I do for every detail of the meals, and the subtle differences between the different steak houses. They’ll remember that Michael Jordan’s had the phenomenal desert, or that the hash browns at Morton’s are their favorite. They seem to remember every meal.
It’s a lot fun to watch their tastes develop and become more sophistocated and mature. That will probably happen with your younger son too, in a few years.
Gayle, Your oldest sounds like my youngest. As part of our mother daughter adventures when she was younger we would end our day by dinning at a fine restaurant. I found it a fun way to not only continue “home trainin’” but to also put to practice what she learned about etiquette,and to discern great customer service. My oldest, a son, would join us occasionally and would always order the burger and fries. He was the “cheap date”. Now that he is married he has expanded his menu choices and knows without hesitation which fork to use each course and which glass belongs to him. I think it is great that more parents are taking their children to upscale restaurants.
And even if it’s not the finest dining, it’s great for kids to learn appreciation for the pleasure of good conversation and a good meal.
As a young child, my family didn’t dine out much as my mom’s an excellent cook and we were just too unwieldy for most resturants. But the times I went out with my father or friends was a great way to learn about foods I was unfamiliar with and gave me a great respect for a good meal.
Plus resturant menus offer a chance also to try new foods like Wiener schnitzel and to explore new dinner combinations. That way, when they reach adulthood, they won’t come up with gauche combinations like cheesecake and a Piña Colada …
Gayle,
All I can say is “Ratatouille!” Kids are much more sophisticated about food and the film shows how far we’ve come. The fact that you can even have a film like this, for children, and have it be a hit is a testament to our newfound food savvy.
We’ve brainwashed our two sons (8 & 10) by having them watch “Supersize Me” and the kid-friendlier version of “Fast Food Nation,” called “Chew on This.” So, luckily, they have no desire to go eat fast food. My elder son, who, like yours, is more sophisticated, was actually when my husband and I recently went to The Four Seasons for a date. “If you’re good,” I said, “We’ll take you there for your birthday.” I think that’s a lot better than any toy or video game he could get.
Making kids aware of good food, and where food comes from, is just part of our job as parents.
’Nuf said!
My children know the difference between McD’s/Burger King. and a good restaurant. ;-]