Over the Christmas holidays, my mother, sister, Flipper and me traveled to Old Salem for the afternoon. It was heaven; we love historical things like this and Old Salem has been beautifully preserved. Flipper, while not as enraptured with root cellars as the rest of us were, has been on enough of these little jaunts to stand silently by while the costumed informers do their informational spiel.
As it grew darker and colder, we made our way to the tavern for dinner. (HINT: make a reservation for this. We called from a cell an hour before and there was a crowd at the door before they opened at 5 that we were able to bypass). Anyway, I didn't have particularly high hopes for the dining experience, praying, I think, that it WOULDN'T be authentic. I feared options like salt pork and beans. Blessedly, it wasn't. The food was really good, a nice, creative menu with, indeed, "something for everyone." Annoyingly, however, there were no options for children beyond the obligatory "chicken tenders and fries," and here is where my rant begins.
As it grew darker and colder, we made our way to the tavern for dinner. (HINT: make a reservation for this. We called from a cell an hour before and there was a crowd at the door before they opened at 5 that we were able to bypass). Anyway, I didn't have particularly high hopes for the dining experience, praying, I think, that it WOULDN'T be authentic. I feared options like salt pork and beans. Blessedly, it wasn't. The food was really good, a nice, creative menu with, indeed, "something for everyone." Annoyingly, however, there were no options for children beyond the obligatory "chicken tenders and fries," and here is where my rant begins.
Why, pray tell, do good restaurants, or any restaurant, really, have such a hard time providing tasty options for children? I won't even touch the nutritional aspect of almost any kid-menu; that is another post in itself. No vegetables. No flavor. Just the same boring standards no matter where you eat: macaroni and cheese. Hamburger. Chicken. Grilled cheese. All with fries. All junk food. All bad for you. And all devoid of any of the flavor and creativity of the regular menu items. This drives me crazy, not to mention to assumption that my child won't eat any food but something lifted directly off a fast-food drive-through board.
Very rarely can we buy a half portion of an entree, even though that food is so much better than the ever-present and excruciatingly boring chicken and fires. I cannot tell you how many really good, nice, upscale restaurants I have been to where the host's first words are, "We don't have a children's menu." In other words, go away and take your little chicken-tender eating kid with you. Now, why is this? Is this really all parents want their children to eat, food that is not only boring, but not that great for you either? Food that is really just one or two colors, those colors being beige and white? What has happened to kids and food? People think Flipper is a great eater, and in some ways she is: below is a picture of her after devouring an entire seaweed salad from Mt. Fuji, in Durham. Bear in mind, however, that this is a child that will not eat pb&j, or almost any sandwich, really, or pancakes, waffles, or...chicken tenders. She WILL eat fries.
But it isn't some magic trick that permits us to eat out with her anywhere, in places that often lack a children's menu, like Lantern in Chapel Hill, or Piedmont in Durham. And so, free of charge, here's my little trick: Take them hungry. No milk, no juice, no crackers. Just a pen and the back of a checkbook for occupation. No toys, no books. Just some adult conversation that doesn't revolve around them. Now, this takes practice. But they'll get it one day, and you'll be glad. Very glad.
But do go to Old Salem and eat at the Tavern. Ask Flipper: her Thai short ribs were fantastic, according to her and my mother, the other rib-lover in the family. Why would anyone choose fried chicken chunks over that?!?
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