# People and their stupid kids



## rat (Mar 2, 2006)

Can someone please tell me why every kid has to have buttered pasta and or chicken fingers?? I had to deal with an irate customer today that was outraged that I had none immediately available for their kids to eat. Keep in mind I work in a higher end restaurant where things like chicken fingers are non-existent. Sheesh!! I wound up making some with our Griggstown chicken and panko crumbs, charged them 30 dollars, yuk yuk yuk.

I wish people would realize that the two choices are totally unhealthy and should encourage their children to eat better and try new things.

On a funny note I got a kick out of the Sommelier opening a juice box for the kid too.


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## jbd (Mar 17, 2008)

I can just see it now! The once irate customer is now such a happy customer that he/she will tell :talk:all her like minded friends about the wonderful gourmet chicken fingers her child had at your restaurant.

They will all flock to your place all :bounce::bounce: and you will be making lots of gourmet chicken fingers!!


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

Just reassure me that you use "stupid" because you're just frustrated at the situation and you're not really aiming it at the kids.


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## rat (Mar 2, 2006)

Nah, i love kids especially with some drawn butter and onions.:roll:



I was brought up with the notion if your kid won't eat then they are not really hungry. It just kills me seeing what people feed their kids, no wonder they are all so fat these days.


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## the_seraphim (Dec 25, 2006)

i eat vegetables... healthy vegetables.... im not keen on a lot of white meat, so i eat fish or lean cuts of red meat instead...

i get really annoyed at the stupid parents not the kids who simply want the tasty stuff


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## tessa (Sep 9, 2007)

at least you fed them and not only that but you came up with your version of what they wanted and therefore you kept your customer happy which at the end of the day is really whats most important. Sure it may not be your food preference, but you were accomodating and you can bet thatthose customers will go off and tell others how nice you were and how good your chicken kid food was


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## riggs_chef (Apr 18, 2008)

Hi Rat,

It's the parents that are "stupid", not the kids. If they would teach them to eat properly, folks like you wouldn't have this sort of harrassment! Good that you made them pay, though. 

riggs_chef


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## buonaboy (Sep 5, 2007)

I swear I want to smack every parent I know who claims their child is a "finicky eater". Children have but one source to learn good eating habits, the parents. I know a couple that claims their 4 year old will only eat buttered pasta ?!?! They make special trips to a noodle house for him multiple times a week. Really!? Did he learn this on some kiddy food network? Maybe Sesame Street? I think not. 
The last time I was in Spain and Italy I surely did not see a "children's menu" in any restaurants.
Jacques Pepin has a great chapter in his book "The Apprentice" that outlines some very insightful ideas on children and food. Basically, feed them what YOU want to eat, and don't make a big deal about it when they eat their veggie's. If the child comes across something they honestly don't like, don't make a big deal about that ether.-And don't make them something special, if they're hungry they'll eat. 

-my daughter is only one month old, so I've not practiced this in person yet-but friends of mine who follow the same philosophy have had good results.
-ciao


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## montelago (Nov 19, 2007)

I have six kids, and people always ask me how I got them to eat so well. I simply tell them that it is all in the approach. Most people start out by saying, you might not like this, or, if you don't like it you can spit it out. I start out by telling them that they are going to absolutely love it, and try to find something they like to compare it to. Consequently, my kids will eat everything from sushi to raw oysters, braunschweiger to calamari...and ask for seconds. People pander to their kids and make completely separate meals for them. It's simple in my house. This is what is for dinner, take it or leave it.


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## psyco6stringer (Apr 16, 2008)

That is a great approach.My wife and I use almost the same and our girls will try everything lol. But at the same time I have to add I work at a 4 diamond resort and we have to have what ever the guest needs..bahhhhh even if it is chicken fingers ..and or mac and cheese sub just butter lmao ..all the things we have to do for guest relations. But have to admit ..that in the middle of a killer rush of all goodies going out ..nothing worse then dropping a basket of fingers and fries :smiles::beer::smiles:


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## shipscook (Jan 14, 2007)

Your statement about healthy food got my attention!
I am on the beach now and cooking lunch at my Moose Lodge, o.k., not fine dining, but we have a nice menu with great healthy specials every day.
We do have chicken strips on the menu, not one of my favorite things, but they are there.
Many teenagers and some adults order a side of ranch dressing with them. But, last week I walked into the dining room during service and this little dude (four years old?) is dipping his chicken in the ranch dressing. Why was he taught this? O.K. they aren't very tasty, but this, to me just seemed wrong? Deep fried and fatty chemical laden dipping stuff?

Nan


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## stellasmomma (Dec 26, 2007)

I can't wait until some of you have children.
karma's a *****.

just as a side note: I breastfed, then made my own organic veg purees, which were all gobbled up. I smugly told everyone that my kid was going to eat everything.
well guess what? she's a toddler now, and while there are some interesting things she will eat (hummus, tapenade, and spicy pad thai, to name a few) she will not eat many others, including meat, chicken, or fish, any vegetables (other than potatoes or sweet potatoes), or any grains. We try repetition (they say it can take up to 15 times for a child to try something new and like it), raving about the food loudly ("don't these carrots taste like CANDY!""oh, yes, they are DELICIOUS!") at this age you are just happy that they will eat something. So we may sit her in front of a plate of whatever we're eating for half an hour. if she doesn't touch it and then i give her a banana, which she wolfs down- so be it. I can only do what i can by buying her as much organic and natural food as possible. Kid wants to eat crackers all day long? ok then, here's the whole grain crackers with no hf corn syrup. kid wants to gorge herself on applesauce? here's the applesauce with no sugar added. kid wants juice? here's a sippy cup with 7 oz of water and 1 oz of organic apple juice. kid wants pizza? okay, we make pizza at home, and mommy will hide some sauteed spinach under the sauce and cheese. unfortunately kid is too savvy for that and then refuses to eat the pizza, her favorite food. We pack her lunch so she doesn't eat the daycare food, which is just smaller versions of hospital food. organic soynut butter and sugar free fruit preserves on natural honey and flax bread. organic yogurt and milk. fresh fruit, not like the canned stuff in syrup the other kids get. ravioli with tomato sauce and another favorite, cannelini beans.

Surely you all remember being children, and there being things you didn't like to eat. ****, I just started liking olives 2 months ago. tastebuds change.

For my child-less friends, watching from the sidelines: don't sneer until you've walked a mile in a parent's shoes. Every parent (ok, the normal ones) try our very best to provide the best lives for their children, with nutrition,education, etc. etc. But nobody's perfect, no matter how hard we may try. So lighten up. Keep some hormone free chicken breasts and whole grain pasta at work. And at the end of the day, when you are out having drinks after work, raise a glass to the rest of us, who have worked our own shifts,come home to take care of our children, then collapse into bed, knowing we are imperfect and knowing there is not a **** thing we can do about it but try again tomorrow.


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## shipscook (Jan 14, 2007)

good for you stellasmom. I too tried to keep my kids healthy and it was pretty interesting, one would eat anything and the second went through a picky stage. I sort of blamed it on peir pressure, his friends didn't eat some things, so he decided he didn't like them either. Thank Goodness it didn't last for too very long.

I guess my rant was, giving little guys some of this unhealthy stuff to start with?? remember when baby food had salt in it to make it taste better to the moms?
Nan


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## greyeaglem (Apr 17, 2006)

Reminds me of the time the majority of my family took a trip to CA. They went to a seafood restaurant on Fisherman's Wharf (a big treat, being from the midwest) and my little brother who was ten or eleven at the time insisting they take him to Wendy's. He's 35 now and we still call him Wimpy. As for fussy eaters, I have known several people who would insist they didn't like certain things when the truth was they's never tried it. Once they did, they usually liked it. These people were all from poorer families, and I think they just weren't exposed to many different things for economic reasons. Today I think it's because people don't really cook much any more and they make things that are fast and easy. The trouble is the kids now aren't willing to try new things. They just state that they don't like that, and that's the end of it.That's why you see so much crap in the school lunch programs. It's apalling, but if you try to make better food, they won't eat it. And yes, I blame the parents because they accommodate the kids by making them something different when they won't eat what's on the table.


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## anneke (Jan 5, 2001)

This discussion is strange to me. I don't have kids, and quite frankly, I just don't understand them so go ahead parents and pick on me. I'm trying to remember my own childhood: I ate everything. 

I had tremendous respect for authority (I've changed a bit since) so if my parents said "eat it", I did whether I liked it or not. It's part of the whole 'learning to do things you don't always like' education. If I had to sit at the table for 2 hours before I ate my brussel sprouts, so be it; my mom was that patient. And guess what, I didn't develop anorexia or bulimia and I'm not overweight. 

These episodes rarely ever happened though. In fact the more adults around me would try to convince me that I (any kid) wouldn't like this or that food, the more I wanted to try it. I asserted myself through my willingness to eat, and in fact the only food I didn't like was mayonnaise, but that was because my sister liked it. People always assumed we were identical in every way so this was another opportunity for assertion. I loved olives, snails, liver, oysters, tripe, the weirder the better. Food was always a celebration of sorts at my house. Weekends and special occasions were always marked by a feast. Kids at school always thought my lunches were gross. Secretly, some kids came to me and asked to trade.... 

So I guess my point is this: Don't underestimate your kids.  Empower them.








...Don't ask me what that means in practical terms though....


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## stellasmomma (Dec 26, 2007)

Exactly. You don't have kids, and you have no idea what it's like. it's all well and good that you had an advanced palate at an early age, but most kids don't.
and quite frankly forcing someone to eat something that is inherently disagreeable to their palate to the point where they sit at the dinner table all night instead of spending some quality time together reading or playing outside or just talking about life is just plain bad parenting, IMO.


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## buonaboy (Sep 5, 2007)

Yes, I would call that bad parenting, (_even though it happened to me_) -but there's quite a lot of space between that, and letting your children's eating habits rule your mealtime. I would consider both extremes bad parenting. I think we're all talking about someplace in between. 
As I'm already learning with my infant, any preconceived notions you have about raising you children gets pretty much thrown out the window once you're underway _i.e. me searching the supermarket @ 3:30 in the morning for the pacifier we swore we weren't going to use_.
But, just like my life and career, I believe in setting high goals. If we shoot for mediocracy, thats the best we will achieve. I'd rather not rule out the possibility of raising a child with good eating habits, if I'm proven wrong, at least I made an effort. 
-I see a lot of parents that don't even do that, and I'm pretty sure thats who we're all complaining about.

-ciao


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## canadiangirl (Jul 16, 2007)

You are kidding me!!! You do not have kids! My kids eat great but my 2 yr. old wants veggies instead of fries & I get crazy looks! He will not eat fried food or most meats. I will order off menu but if you have veg already prepared isn't that easier than throwing in some fries. Give him pasta off menu & a veg side.
PLUS if we go to a reteraunt w./ kids we always go @ non peak times.


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## anneke (Jan 5, 2001)

Before I begin, let me say that my mother was NOT a bad parent. She did what she thought was best at the time. Parenting is such a trendy thing unfortunately; by today's standards, those of us who grew up in the 70s should all be dead. (Imagine if you were born before that!)

I had some folks over tonight, 2 small children in the mix. Here's another example of how we underestimate our kids. The kids' dad tells me he won't put poppy seeds in muffins or pound cakes because the kids won't eat it. They occasionally make rabbit but tell the kids it's chicken so as to not traumatize them. They like their starches and meats with no sauce, won't eat mushroom, etc. 

Ok fine. However, my house my rules. (although I always have a backup plan if that falls through - I'm not completely heartless...) I made rabbit ravioli in pepper butter sauce. I revealed to the children that they were consuming rabbit, ready to tell them "just kidding" if need be. They didn't react. A curious "really" was all I got, and they both proceeded to clean their plates and ask for seconds. We had beef with mushroom sauce, which I didn't expect they'd eat. They were curious, had a taste, loved it, asked for a plate. Lemon poppy seed poundcake for dessert. Again, both ate it.

Now I will acknowledge that kids are more accepting of new things when they come from strangers, but it nonetheless proved my point. Granted these are not kids who grew up on McDonalds food, but still. I think parents might get a little too protective of their kids to the point of shielding their delicate palates. There are so many ways parents validate their kids' finikiness. I see it all the time; the culprits are NOT the kind of folk that would hang around ChefTalk, as I think we are united by our love and respect for food, and want our kids to develop the same respect for food. As stated above, there has to be a middle ground. 


Ok, go ahead and get angry with me again....


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## sparklinburgndy (Apr 19, 2008)

I agree that it's tough to have a kid that's a picky eater, but I see a lot of parents that don't even *try* to get thier kids to eat healthier. I've fielded calls at work from people stating that thier children absolutely would not eat our food; they would only eat chicken. If I reply that we *have* chicken, they don't know what to say.

One case that really blew my mind was a family that came in. From the second I walked up, the toddler son was screaming for french fries. 

I work at a Japanese restaurant.

We don't have french fries.

I told his harried mother as much and she seemed flabbergasted that we *wouldn't* carry burgers and fries for children. She was *adamant* that her child wouldn't eat anything *but* french fries.

As I'm sitting there with a forced smile, a voice is saying: Don't spoil him! Make him eat real food! It's not healthy to only eat french fries! He'll grow up stunted!

The voice was coming from the woman's *other* son; who was eight years old, tops.

Twenty minutes later, the child who only ate french fries was happily gobbling up fried rice.

What I'm wondering is how the first kid turned out to be such an equal opportunity eater when the second was obviously fed mostly junk food?


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## canadiangirl (Jul 16, 2007)

Ya, the last part of my post was lost. The baby seems to avoid the meat on his plate- he LOVES ALL animals & has figured out that beef is a moo- moo and a chicken is a birdie. I put it on his plate but if he choses not to eat it ,so be it. My kids will try anything-it's FUN! My hubby... We were both poor kiddies & WE REACT DIFFERENTLY to food. He eats to live-he can no longer order food in if I am gone for the day! He will not try or even be open to trying something dif. Me & the boys eat wonder ful,creative, dif. meals!
The boys & I LOVE going to a resteraunt and ALWAYS order on the menu but will ask to substitute veg instead of fries-they won' eat em'. They love veg.:roll:
My kids & I have to try a new food w/ an open mind(even if we have to close our eyes!)


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## canadiangirl (Jul 16, 2007)

Since we have realized I am a stay at home mom & will figure how to do that money wise, I cook @ least 4 meals a day. I just make cool things & we have fun. One of the baby's favorites is my spicy tzaziki-tons of garlic! We munch on veggies & dip. He gets lots of protein from milk & cheese!I think definately it is the parents. My mom wasn't good-my dad was awesome---the 2 only things of his I wouldn't eat were bean soup(don't like the texture of beans!)& pea soup-cuz my mom would make us sit for hours til we ate them. Now will only eat fresh /raw peas!
Toddlers will eat what they need --not what we think they should!


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## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

So Anneke, are you saying (it sure sounds like it) that you delibrately circumvented the Dad's wishes just to prove a point? Sorry, but that is just plan wrong headed. "M house, my rules" then maybe you should consider not inviting people, with kids, over for dinner. As a dad of an 18 month old Iknow how difficult it can be to introduce new foods to a child. As a chef, since Genevieve's birth, I have been determined not to let her become a finiky eater, and for the most part we have succeeded, but there are things she still does not like and things she still loves and sometimes it is just easier on all involved (when out to dinner or over at friends houses) to give her what she likes. Forcing a young child to eat foods they don't like, or think they don't like just makes them miserable and it also makes the parents miserable as you have to fight with a whiny, crying baby, and worry about how the scene you are making is affecting those around you. There is a time and a place to force your child to try new foods and that place is at home (or families homes) and not when out and their tantrums can affect those around you. Glad your little "experiment" worked out but it could have very easily backfired causing the kids to get upset. More importantly though than upset kids is the frustrated parents who have to cut thier evening short and leave in embarrassment because you just told the kids they just ate the Easter Bunny and are now inconsolable.


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## chef.esg.73 (Dec 10, 2007)

Good to read ya, stellamomma......I can't even add anything to that, except...Ya what she said...


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## anneke (Jan 5, 2001)

Pete, I have know these kids since they were babies. They have always loved anything I prepared for them. As stated in my last post, I always have a plan B for them. Repeat ALWAYS. No kid has ever gone hungry at my house. I also tell the parents what I'm preparing before they come over. I am not a rude host. I don't "force" anything on anyone. The entire family knows and loves the fact that when they come to my house they'll probably have a couple of items they're not used to.

I could start a new thread about the roles and responsibilities of hosting where everyone could pick on my terrible manners and I could waste my time justifying myself. The only point I am trying to make is that kids are constantly being underestimated. While some of you see this as a negative, I see it as highly optimistic.


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## dudethatsmine (Mar 15, 2008)

i dont know when i was a kid i ate what i LIKED and would only eat the thing if i knew what it was its just natural to eat what you know when your that young whats wrong with being like that when your 8 years old ****. It fades out calm down lol. Not everyone was raised by chefs and cooks from the time they came out of the hole. Maybe that family was just looking for a nice night out and WANTED the kids to be happy to. How could you blame the parents when the kid wants chicken fingers is it that hard to whip that **** up . Let me put things in view if someone told me to eat rabbit or lamb at the age of 5 it would be like telling me now at the age of 19 to eat these horse testicals with a nice sperm sauce drizzled on top of it mmm i want some more daddy and mommy.


PS. And no i am not fat when i was 8 i ate my ****** chicken fingers PASTA, mac and cheese with beef chunks and cut up hot dogs AND LOVED every bite of it then i would proceed to play man hunt with the kids around the neighborhood and ride bikes. Kids are kids you can eat whatever as a kid and not gain weight but problem is there are these things called computers that make them fat beacuse they dont burn off the **** food that they had so blame early computer use and video games not the crap food  beacuse i do still emit i like my mac and cheese with cut up beef chunks lol its a plate ill always remember that my mom gave me so i can watch my cartoons in comfort.


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## buonaboy (Sep 5, 2007)

Actually, yes, yes I can blame the parents. When they walk in, don't even open the menu and ask for chicken fingers. (than has happened more than once) -If they had taken the time to look over the menu, that has taken a great deal of time and effort to comprise, they might notice that there is no chicken on my menu. A roasted half guinea hen yes, but chicken in any shape or form, no. And further inspection might reveal no fried items on my menu, why? Because I have an 80 year old galley kitchen with no fryer, just 6 burners and a convection oven - and I have crafted the menu to accommodate our lack of kitchen, so yes, I blame the aforementioned "Stupid Parents". 

Furthermore, I blame the American culture as a whole. We are a culture of convienence, spoiled with the idea that we can have anything we want at the snap of our fingers, and that issue goes deeper than simply finicky eating children.

-but I'm kind of a pinko-socialist, and just looking for any opportunity to rag on American culture.
So enjoy your weenies and mac, I'll make rigatoni and beschemelle for my child.

-ciao


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## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

I don't underestimate kids. My daughter tries lots and lots of foods for an 18 month old, but there is a time and a place for forcing your kids to expand their culinary horizons and oftentimes restaurants and dinner parties are not it. By no means am I justifying allowing kids to become picky eaters, parents are to blame if they allow their kids to become so. But again, I repeat, there is a time and a place and in public is not it.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

That's funny! :lol: Can just picture it now...very elegant well dressed Sommelier cracking opening the plastic casing on the straw and popping it in (wondering if he managed not to squeeze the carton and get it everywhere - they're notorious for that), taking it to the table - ha!

But yeah, too many parents don't educate their kids properly on food, and let them choose what they want at every step. Eat it or go hungry has been my M.O. but haven't tried the really spicy stuff on them till last few years, because they are liking it, didn't before. That was ok, I just added hot sauce to mine at the end. And I'm spice mad :crazy:


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## free rider (May 23, 2006)

It's called marketing. What gets more air time, more face time with the kids, rabbit ravioli or Kraft mac and cheese? Advertising is made to do exactly what everyone is complaining about. Advertising has won. Kids want what they've seen on tv.


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## deltadoc (Aug 15, 2004)

I still remember eating when I was a kid. It was the most traumatic of my early memories.

Roast beef, with carrots potatoes onions, cooked for hours in one of the white spotted blue roasting pans with cover.

The beef was then cut in to huge squares and was so stringy you could hardly saw through it. I was forced to eat those overcooked meals. Every other Sunday, it was baked chuck steak instead of chuck roast. Over done in the same manner.

Mom woudln't/couldn't have pepper, dad wouldn't eat garlic. He'd open a can of King Oscar sardines, ladle the oblong can with catsup and consume it. Couldn't understand why I would gag at the very thought of it.

Also, they'd have this coarse ground bologne that smelled so bad, and was full of "crunchy" things I almost would throw up.

Pies, chocolate chip toll house and peanut butter cookies were the only things edible to me.

Then one day, I got to eat some of my Aunt's cooking. I didn't know food could taste good!?!?!?!?

I borrowed some of her recipes, the first that I can really remember was a rosemary, fennel and mushroom spaghetti sauce that you had to simmer for several hours. It was so good I ate the whole thing without spaghetti.

Got yelled at for using the burner for so long.

Couldn't just toast one piece of bread, "you gotta toast two slices since you're using up the electricity"....

Anyway, that's how I started cooking by the time I was 8 or 9. Had to learn to in order to survive.

Bolting down chunks of overdone roast beef with swallows of milk was the only option left after the dog bit through his chain and ran away. Wished I could have gone with him.

Argument after argument about my not liking my mom's cooking. Even when I was in my 50's, she'd still cook up something stinky and act like I was really going to sit there and eat it. After she passed away, we had to clean out her refridgerator. Did you know that eggs kept in a refridgerator long enough, turn black and completely hollow??

Her version of Maid-Rites was not going to rob me of the thrill of getting to eat real Maid Rites since they're not generally available in Minnesota. 

So, I don't have any kids. If I did, I'd try to make healthy food for them to eat, and if they didn't like it, then they'd have to learn to cook themselves. Not a bad compromise, methinks.

doc


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## chefraz (May 10, 2007)

I hope they are smart enough to walk out when they find out you don't have the chicken too, Because, I for one, don't eat much beef. so I would walk out and tell my friends. It's like you don't want any business.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

beschemelle is a rare mushroom, right? 

My kids' mom knew how to make chili con carne before we met. Now she makes spaghetti and pizza too. She's smart and sweet but her own mom wasn't a good teacher.


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## allanmcpherson (Apr 5, 2007)

A few thoughts, without any thesis.

* Our place is a in a boutique Hotel. Some time ago we had a family stay with us for a week and they ate in our restaurant almost every night. One of the two children requested pasta (off menu) each time. The first night we improvised and gave him a portion of our "staff sauce." After that we kind of made a game of it. It was like, once we heard they were back, I said to Chef "When was the last time you had a good Carbonarra (sic)?" He's smile and tell me to get the bacon. We took it as a chance to make some classics that normally wouldn't factor into our menu.

* One thing about kids we have to remember is that they can be really sensitive to textures. Often picky eaters are are more affected by the mouthfeel than flavour of a food. Things that crunch tend to be safe, as are base "limp" or soft starches. I've know kids who, as their bodies are developing, driven to nausea by such things as the texture of grape skins, the chewiness of melted cheese, or even pulp in orange juice. Again the taste wasn't the issue it was more actual physical sensation of the food in the mouth. 

* For my own part as a child I was repulsed by shellfish. Having a piece of lobster, crab, scallop, in my mouth would fill me with something I can only describe with my adult mind as existential horror. Swallowing wasn't even an option. This was a constant source of embarrassment to my parents. Years latter I learned (after a trip to the emerg.) that I, while not technically allergic, have a dietary intolerance to shellfish. Sometimes there is more to "pickyness" than lack of maturity or bad parenting.

* It is not an offense to the commonweal to not serve chicken, let alone breaded chicken trim, er "tenders". Any restaurant has to have a sense of what they are, of what they do and what they don't. Its a choice we make, hopefully made with all the positives and negatives that will create in mind. If a place's menu doesn't have anything that appeals to you than don't take it personally. Its a hollow threat to say that you will not patronize a place that doesn't serve chicken simply because a restaurant that doesn't offer it wasn't expecting any business from somebody who only want's chicken. It's like critiquing a horror film for not being funny enough, or a French movie for having subtitles.

--Al


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## mahavishnu nath (Nov 27, 2007)

Parents want to be popular and the kids friends. :crazy:
They aren't home all day, have nannies watch them, or are divorced and only see the kids once and a while. 
The single parent tries to overcompensate by giving the kid everything or the 'never there' parents try to make every moment worth the 15 they didn't spend with the kids.
Arrogant snooty parents breed the same as kids. I think that kids are a product of their environment.
Immediate gratification is societies prerequisite.
I have a daughter that had vichyssoise at 3 and liver pate by 4 and she loves all food.
Rat did the right thing in feeding quality.
My comments on parenting are my opinion, but the over 50% divorce rate speaks for itself.
Parents these days have unfinished business with thier own parents and it show up in thier relationship with the kids! Then the kids are the new consumers


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## allie (Jul 21, 2006)

My kids try lots of different foods. My 14 yr old daughter will eat almost anything and loves trying new vegetables and fruits. My 8 yr old son is a bit pickier than her but will still try things at least once. It's a rule that he has to try a bite when I cook something new (in most cases vegetables) and then can have the rest of his food. If we don't do that, he simply won't try it at all. To his surprise, he learned a few weeks ago that he loves raw broccoli but hates it steamed. Whatever I cook is what you get for dinner. I try to ensure there is at least one thing for each person in my household but never cook special just for one person.

When we go out to eat, I would never, ever consider ordering anything that isn't on the menu. Until starting to read forums like this, I never even knew that was a possibility. lol I don't ask for things to be cooked in a special way or in any way change the menu as it is printed. I'm still the one who seems to always get the wrong combination of foods, something I didn't order, or get my plate after every one else is done eating. Just my luck, I gues! Anyway for my son who loves macaroni and cheese, eating out is a treat. He almost always orders it from the kids' menu because I just don't cook it at home. On birthdays and other days when we allow him to request a particular dinner menu, that's the one given he's always going to ask for. I don't like macaroni and cheese (especially the slimy stuff out of the box) but see nothing wrong with it as a treat. It doesn't mean that I don't feed him better foods most of the time, just that I do allow him to have his favorites sometimes, too. What better time than at a restaurant that has it on the menu and I don't have to eat it, too?


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## rsteve (May 3, 2007)

My daughters are both adults. They were raised in the same home by the same parents; raised in a home where their father insisted on preparing and eating "quality food." Their palates could not be more different. One daughter, a few days before flying home for a visit, requested a meal of shawarma (lamb), hummous, baba ganouj, and tabouli. Her sister, eight years her senior, wouldn't allow a morsel of said foods to touch her lips. She asked Daddy to make a spicy sesame chicken stir fry, served with the whitest of white rice. The younger might sample a small piece; nothing more.

My most wonderful four-year-old great nephew, adopted from a orphanage in Guatemala at three months old sat at my table last week and devoured my version of a cross between longanizas and chorizo, corn mixed with chiles, black beans and rice. His five year old Anglo born sister wouldn't go near those items. 

You can expose children to the broadest of palates and you should, but when push comes to shove, in your restaurant, give the customer the item for which he/she reasonably requests. Your work in an Italian restaurant; yeah, it's unreasonable for a mother to ask for a sushi platter for her three year old. You work high end, full service; make the kid some buttered noodles and chicken strips.


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## rsteve (May 3, 2007)

You know what, allie, your son and I could eat us some mac and cheese.

Get rid of the box. Create some memorable mac and cheese; some mac and cheese your son will remember when you're long, long gone. 

Make a fresh pasta. It's really so easy. All you need is your hands, a rolling pin, and a knife. Make a simple white sauce using fat free half and half and a combination of grated full fat and low fat cheeses. Make your roux using half butter/half olive oil. Sneak in some steamed chicken breast. It'll be great. Trust me.


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## marf (Mar 19, 2008)

Small goat "bonne femme" its working!!!, lets start a campagne to get the little, .......out of restaurants , get the adults to cook WITH them so they can stay at home and won't ruin the chefs menu, cool..... _"I wish I was American"......_

_"Give Scotland It's Oil Back"_


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

My kids both ended up very adventurous eaters, but it wasn't always that way for either one of them. They took turns as the official family PITA. Otherwise, my experience tracks yours. And as to sentiments, I agree completely. Well said!

BDL


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## allie (Jul 21, 2006)

Believe me, I've made homemade mac and cheese. That's the only kind I can bear to eat. My son and his dad, however, thinks it's just awful and the yellow box is the only way to go. I haven't tried making pasta but have made dumplings quite a few times. I do make different cheesy casseroles. The one macaroni dish everyone in my homes loves is when I cook the macaroni with my home canned tomatoes, using less liquid than I normally would for pasta, then I drain out the juice and put it in a 13x9x2 baking dish covered with mozzarella and parmesan. Then I just heat it until the cheese is starting to get brown and bubbling.


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## rsteve (May 3, 2007)

Guess what? I think Dad may be the problem in this equation. When Daddy's the role model and Daddy has a Kraft Dinner palate, there's not much you can do, short of finding an always handsome, extremely masculine and creative chef for a new husband. 

Not likely, huh?:crazy:


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## allie (Jul 21, 2006)

You're probably right in that Dad has a big influence. I don't really want to trade him in! lol

Edited to add this:

I should say that while Dad isn't an adventurous eater like my daughter and me, he eats pretty good. My son will eat seafood, asparagus, raw broccoli, and some other items that his father would never touch. I really can't complain since everyone in my family eats pretty well. Les (Dad) does make a mean pot of chili that he's been perfecting for over 20 years and we both work together to put together rubs and sauces for our bbq. He is really a good cook, he's just a bit more limited than me. Oh yeah, he's the one with restaurant experience in the family. lol


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## jenyum (Apr 27, 2008)

You don't have to serve chicken fingers, but there are simple things restaurants can do to accommodate little people, and they'll earn you a devoted following.

One of the more popular cafes in my town is known for its simple, fresh ingredients. They offer a "picnic plate" on their children's menu that earns them rave reviews. It's just a baguette, alongside a few less-challenging cheeses and some fresh fruit, for a cost of $3.00. Food no one would be ashamed to serve that meets the needs of most little ones with picky palates. Nothing touches anything else, everything is fresh, and not coated in any type of seasoning. 

The original poster to this thread sounds like he/she objected to the presence of children just on principle. I've encountered this a time or two when dining with the kids and found it to be more or less a self-fulfilling prophesy: restaurant does not appreciate children, thus refuses accommodations, provides poor service, makes everyone uncomfortable, causes the meal to take longer than it should, and what do you know, the kids end up mis-behaving. I've never intentionally taken them anywhere where entrees start at 19 or more a plate (restaurants with confusing identities are a totally different topic) so I'm not sure where all the attitude comes from.

I'd also say that many of the posters here who don't have children seem to subscribe to the programming theory of parenting: that a child behaves in a certain way because their parents have taught them to, with a + b logically following directly to c. I'd say that it's quite a bit more complicated than that, and the little buggers just insist upon having their own minds, personalities, tastes and motivations. To use the example cited above of one sibling demanding nothing but French fries and the other lecturing on healthy eating, I do not find this to be mysterious at all. Sounds like just another day in my house, actually. From kid to kid, day to day, hour to hour, children (like all human beings) will surprise you, and frequently roll out ridiculous demands like French fries at Japanese restaurants when you least expect it, just to see if they can. As a parent, I can do my best to have clear expectations and choose the right time and the right restaurant, but in practice, that may all still blow up in my face.

Some of my best dining experiences started out with this kind of scene and ended with a wonderful time, thanks to creative and accommodating restaurant staff who ran with it and turned a potentially awkward situation into a great time for everyone. The places I love most and choose to spend money at on a regular basis typically are restaurants where children are related to in a way consistent with their status as the young of our species, and not as unwanted alien interlopers.


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## mannlicher (Jan 8, 2006)

Rat In the restaurants I have owned and managed, I find it easier to just have buttered pasta and chicken fingers on hand. All the time. Peanut butter and Grape jam too.

Makes life so much easier that way. :chef:


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## rat (Mar 2, 2006)

As the original poster I am suprised the thread is still going, not every restaurant is for kids, mine is an example of this. I do not think it good for business when a guest can order a 3,000 to 15,000 dollar wine and have kids next to them eating chicken fingers. If you can go out and spend 36 to 60 dollars on an entree and have a 120 dollar+ pp check average you can afford a babysiter. Thats that. Not everyone thinks your kids are as adorable as you think you do.

My sideline thought was that besides not having these assumingly staple items on a menu they are nutritionally deficient and not a healthy choice for children. Especially when we do serve things a kid can eat that are NOT fried and contain local sustainable produce and ingredients.

Yes we do serve whatever the guest desires and we do charge accordingly (and then some, and some more) so we are not turning down people, I just wondered when these two items became staples on every menu in every restaurant in the world. Parents come in and order these without even looking at the menu or asking what can be done for their children who I can only assume have been raised on buttered noodles and chicken fingers their whole lives.
It is depressing. It is often said hunger is the best sauce so I recon if the kids won't eat anything but, then they are not really hungry.

Yes, I do have kids and they will eat most things as they have been exposed to many kinds of foods, our favorite thing to do is go shopping in Chinatown and find something weird we dare each other to eat.
My little girl likes fried bugs-we had those in Thailand, my son loves chicken livers on a toasted baguette.

As far as I am concerned the yellow box mac and cheese IS the only way to go. My .02


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## rat (Mar 2, 2006)

Sysco makes life much easier as well. Just open that 10 can...


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## oldschool1982 (Jun 27, 2006)

I happen to agree with Rat on many of the key points here, especially in his follow-up post. It's a surprise that so much has been said but even more so is the level of personalization that has been exhibited.

In another topic along this line I said that "We are chefs, we cook food....." and I really do believe that to a high degree. I also believe it's commendable to have a Constitution that follows a course of "Staving on a principle rather than feasting on compromise". More need to exercise this on so many other things. Yet it doesn't appear that Rat's operation is starving.

There is definitely more to this situation than what lies on the surface as it is deeply rooted in many of the issues we now face country and world wide. Our society or culture has blurred so many of the lines that once distinguished things. I will refrain from posting any since there are so many things I could list that I'm afraid the point would be lost as well as create other issues that are not needed.

The one point I will mention is the perception of entitlement or over inflated consumer ego that has been created. People have come to expect that because they are spending money at any given establishment, it gives them privileges and rights that really are not there. They "demand" everything and that really does nothing productive for either side. IMHPO once reason is no longer part of the equation, there is no difference between a 2 year old throwing a temper tantrum and an adult demanding something. 

I honestly believe it's important for any operation to set parameters for it's own operation. It has to create it's own identity and operate with-in it to succeed, especially if it's not a cookie-cutter style operation. Once you start operating outside your limitations or identity, how the whole of your niche perceives you can be irreversibly damaged and failure can and will follow. Yet there are circumstances that can force issues and create reason but not compromise. But it's a fine tight-rope to walk between reason and compromise.


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

Jeezuz! PM me where you work I'll recommend it to my fried who travels to PA all the time.


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## grlcbrkmyginsu (Apr 24, 2008)

Yes, where please?


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## sparklinburgndy (Apr 19, 2008)

What really strikes me a lot of the time is that people are insistent that children can't have the same things adults. Again, my days serving instead of cooking are what really showcase a lot of these.

Last Saturday a woman wanted to know what 'children's drinks' we had. After a moment of confusion, I suggested pink lemonade. She asked if we carried Sprite, which I assured her that we did and her answer was: 'That's a children's drink!'

No, lady, Sprite is soda-pop. It is not marketed directly at the little ones. 

Again, people telling me they can't bring their kids because thier children only eat chicken. We carry chicken. It's not deep fried, but we have it. Why can't they eat that?

This being said, I don't have children. The closest I have is my four year old nephew, Jackson, who eats what he's told and all in all, is amazingly well-behaved.

When I have kids I'm going to be calling my brother and sister in law every five minutes to see what they did! XD


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