Thursday, March 27, 2008

Kids' Menus Becoming more Upscale

I was really getting frustrated with the video I posted a few days ago automatically playing every time I opened my page so I decided to delete it. I wanted to try something new and it didn't work as I had planned so I will keep moving and not let it slow me down. You live and you learn right?

On to other news, I found this interesting article in the San Francisco Chronicle about how kids menu's are starting to take on more upscale foods. Items such as mini steaks and roast pork loin paired with farmers' market vegetables are becoming increasingly common at some of San Francisco's most popular chef-owned restaurants, as more parents demand a place at the table for their offspring.

I thought this was odd. It turns out that older parents are coming in with younger kids requesting higher quality food than what they usually serve for children. Now remember that this is mainly showing up at high scale restaurants but still it leads me to the question of should kids be eating at these high end restaurants frequently enough that they start catering to them?

I remember when I was young going out to nice restaurants with my parents once in awhile and while they usually had to make me plain noodles with butter I was happy and found it a treat non-the-less. I feel that most kids are not mature enough to appreciate the foods they are given so why would you want to spend a lot of money on something your child might not even like?

Also, this brings me to the question of if kids are mature enough to sit in an upscale restaurant and not kick and scream and ruin other diners experience. I agree that parents should be allowed to go out to a nice dinner every now and then but isn't that what a babysitter is for? Shouldn't the parents be able to enjoy their food and experience without having their kids there?

Maybe this is because I am young and can't imagine having a child but I feel that if I were to go to a nice restaurant I wouldn't want my kids to be there.....

What do you think?

1 comment:

Dinahsoar said...

If the kids are well behaved it is fine..if not, then I think they shouldn't...I imagine though if parents don't rear their children in a way that teaches them self control, they will likely be too dense to keep the children home...if more diners would say something to parents when the kids are unruly, maybe they'd get the message...it's a parents job to train the children how to behave...also, even the best behaved children have off nights...so a parent should be willing to leave a restaurant before a meal is over if the child misbehaves and is disturbing the other diners...and it wouldn't hurt the proprietors to ask parents to make their children behave and request that they leave if they refuse..who needs that kind of business...and it would make a statement to parents: spend time teaching your children to behave instead of trying to satisfy their every whim and making them rotten in the process. I am a mom and I was able to take my children anywhere...they knew how to behave.

Also, in a really nice establishment, if children are to accompany, it should be early...say 5-ish...most patrons who "dine" do so later in the evening.