Fine Dining for Children

All,

Read this in the NY Times- the Four Seasons does a special event for children.
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/childrens-day-at-the-four-seasons/?ref=dining
No special kids menu; they are treated as adults as much as possible. What a wonderful idea! Wouldn't it be great if we had something like this in Louisville?

Deb

[Robin Garr]

Annemarie, you have got to broaden your horizons beyond Chuck E. Cheese.

Seriously, I've seen some examples of the kind of thing you're talking about, but in fairness, I've been at plenty of very nice places and seen well-behaved children enjoying "grown-up" dinners (no booze, please) with their parents.

When I was 12 and my brother was 9 and my sister 6, my parents took us to Bookbinder's Restaurant in Philly and we all had lobster. They prepared us for it well ... we know what to expect and how to act. We had a wonderful time, although I was quite miffed when the waiter tried to give me a kid's coloring book. I was a BIG BOY, dammit!

The point, though, is that I'm pretty sure I grew up as an adventurous eater, and a "foodie," because my parents didn't keep us home but exposed us to treats like that, along with making sure that we understood how to behave and knew that tantrums would have consequences.

this would be nice here, but the key here is "well behaved children"
from what i've seen in the louisville dinning experience... "oh vey" sometimes i want to pull my hairs out just from the misbehaved children i have encountered dinning at various places, from chains to white tablecloth places. no piece or quiet. just chaos. kids running around. screaming, jumping out of their chairs, or food being thrown, and not once do i see their parents saying a word to these children. like this is normal for them.
maybe their should be "manners" classes first. lol

And, sometimes I wish the adults would stay at home too.

[Robin Garr]

And, sometimes I wish the adults would stay at home too.

Word.

You are at a Target. Not the Oak Room. Trying bringing those same well-behaved children from said article past a cereal aisle and see how many don't at least "suggest" a couple boxes of cereal.

I like the idea. I'm assuming that they essentially close the restaurant to "normal" lunch traffic for these days, or if not, any prospective diner should be readily aware of the situation they are about to encounter.
I also doubt that the children attending these luncheons are representative of the rug rat/ankle biter/crumb snatcher/over indulged tantrum throwers that we all encounter from time to time.

[Robin Garr]

but i do. i wish i was talking chuck e. cheeses here but i'm not.
remember i eat out a lot.

Just yankin' your chain a little, paisan'!

Oh, come on. Can't we have just one conversation about children without having a big discussion about how awful it is to have kids in public?

I mean, really. Every time there's a wine or beer discussion, wouldn't it get really really old if people came on with stories about how irritating the table filled with drunken yahoos next to them was? Pretty much no one on the board likes kids. I think we get it. Should those of us with children stop reading the board?

I mean, really. Every time there's a wine or beer discussion, wouldn't it get really really old if people came on with stories about how irritating the table filled with drunken yahoos next to them was? Pretty much no one on the board likes kids.

I'm pretty much an equal opportunity disliker...unruly drunks and unruly kids just barely skim the surface.
Kids and drinkers are just fine with me until they get to the point either of them become unruly. At that point I expect management (in the case of drunks) or parents (in the case of unruly kids) to be proactive.

Seriously. Is this going to turn into another thread about how children are such brats and their parents are all assholes for taking them into public?

I think the Four Seasons is on to something. If nothing else, it encourages the type of adventuresome eating that Robin cites as a contributing factor to his foodie future.

You're not an asshole for taking your children into public! Unless....they are such brats.

I think the Four Seasons is on to something. If nothing else, it encourages the type of adventuresome eating that Robin cites as a contributing factor to his foodie future.

Agree.

I love the little girl who said that they never put anything good on the children's menu and that "they always have chicken nuggets and stuff." Ha! How great is that?!

You're not an asshole for taking your children into public! Unless....they are such brats.

But it gets old, yanno? We don't go out to eat often anymore, but when we do our 5yo is very well behaved. Okay, fine. So the discussion is only about those baaaaad children. The next 10 beer discussions, I'll make sure to go on and on and on about how much I hate beer. Because I'm sure that'll add a lot to the conversation.

[Robin Garr]

Pretty much no one on the board likes kids.

Did my post imply that, Tina?