[rat]

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.

 

[jbd]

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!!

 

[kuan]

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.

 

[rat]

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.

 

[the_seraphim]

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

 

[tessa]

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

 

[riggs_chef]

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

 

[buonaboy]

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

 

[montelago]

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.

 

[psyco6stringer]

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:

 

[shipscook]

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

 

[stellasmomma]

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.

 

[shipscook]

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

 

[greyeaglem]

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.

 

[anneke]

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....

 

[stellasmomma]

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.

 

[buonaboy]

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

 

[canadiangirl]

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.

 

[anneke]

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....

 

[sparklinburgndy]

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?