|
Kids's Stuff: The Growing Trend Towards Better Children’s Menus |
 |
 |
|
Written by Kim Lawrence
|
|
Thursday, 07 February 2008 12:12 |
The Bangkok Cafe in Boston’s Roslindale Village offers a children’s menu at an attractive price point ($4.95) with a focus on health. “Bangkok Cafe uses only cholesterol-free and transfat-free oil in its cooking,” noted Carol O’Connor of www.tablecritic.com. Featuring meals such as Kids’ size Pad Thai and Beef Satay with Rice - a number of the dishes have been evaluated by the Boston Health Department, and have qualified under the ‘Boston BestBites’ program, which promotes healthy choices for diners with dietary restrictions.
For restaurants that already feature healthy fare, extending the emphasis to their children’s menu is a natural step. Turner’s Seafood Grill and Market, of Melrose, Mass., recently launched a Kids Menu, in an effort to “cater to the needs of their youngest customers,” said Jennifer Harris, PR coordinator for Open the Door, Inc. “Staying true to their core principles of offering customers fresh great tasting food,” the menu is “filled with healthy options, presented in a manner that appeals to kids. The menu pairs perennial favorites like fish sticks and chicken fingers with healthier sides such as steamed broccoli with cheese and carrots with ranch dressing. “By teaching kids to eat quality protein, fresh seafood and vegetables at a young age, the Turners hope to instill the importance of healthy foods in their youngest customers,” explained Harris.
In part, this trend towards healthy options mirrors wider trends in restaurant dining as a whole. “On the consumer side, 76 percent of adults that we surveyed said they were trying to eat more healthfully than they did two years ago,” reported Sue Hensley, senior vice president of marketing for the National Restaurant Association, in the NRA’s 2008 Forecast Podcast. It’s natural that parents with a mind towards healthy eating would want the same for their children.
Some brands which have traditionally shied away from family fare are opening new locations that mandate the availability of kid-friendly choices. Au Bon Pain, a franchised gourmet sandwich shop with more than 60 locations in New England, recently launched its first children’s menu, and dinosaur-themed Kids’ Meals. “Most of the locations are in adult places rather than kids places,” explained Ed Frechette, senior vice president of marketing and owner. In the summer of 2006, the restaurant opened a location in Boston’s Children’s Museum.
“We wanted to offer something that would be easy for parents to order for their kids, and kids would like to eat.” With staples such as grilled cheese and chicken nuggets, the menu puts a pint-sized spin on cafe favorites. The menu was tested on employee’s kids, a process Frechette described as effective, but “not very scientific.” Based on feedback, Au Bon Pain is testing a new edition to the menu, mini pizzas.
While the offerings are typical, one option that sets the chain apart is its nutritional kiosks, allowing parents to assess the nutritional value of each menu item before they order.” We have an eye towards natural and healthy in the cafe,” explained Frechette, a focus which he claimed helped to contribute to the Children’s Museum’s choice to put Au Bon Pain in place of the former tenant, McDonald’s.
Typically located in office buildings and other urban environments, Au Bon Pain opened its first suburban store in Woburn, Mass., in November, 2007. The chain is not alone in feeling a pull towards the ‘burbs. “Restaurants & Institutions” reported in November, 2007 that family-oriented dining has increased as more families move to the suburbs.
Croma, an international pizzeria with a location on Newbury Street in Boston, recently opened a suburban location in Plymouth, Mass. The move motivated the chain to create a children’s menu. “The suburban locations really require it,” explained Biff Shea, Croma’s co-owner and chief executive officer. The menu itself and a corresponding “kids cup” will feature graphics and activities from “Ribert & Robert’s WonderWorld,” a nationally distributed kids’ show produced by a local animation studio.
The owners didn’t have to look far for the menu’s inspiration. “My partner and I have young kids,” said Shea, who’s also noticed more families, like his own, are bringing their children out to eat, and hunting for more innovative children’s offerings. “I think that’s really the trend rather than leaving kids at home,” he noted. His family dining experiences showed him that “some places did a really good job.”
His goal was to create “something that’s not like a coloring book and four crayons. We think to ourselves, what do our kids like to do?” Which is where they came up with the idea of “something a little more challenging, more educational.” Food-wise, the Mediterranean restaurant “tried to keep it simple and healthy” with “groupings of complex carbohydrates and not a lot of fried foods,” said Shea.
For some operators, the best children’s menu may be none at all. At the North End properties Bricco, Trattoria Il Panino, Mare and Umbria, “we do not have specific children’s menus,” explained Kate Carson, DePasquale Ventures. “But we do make everything from scratch and to order. So we work with what the child would like as well as what the parents want their child to have.”
Marion Nestle, nutrition expert and author agrees that it may do more harm than good to infuse every morsel of kids’ food with fun. “I guess I’m old fashioned but I think food should be food, eaten when hungry and enjoyed for its interesting flavors, textures, and smells,” said the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University. “One stated purpose of food marketing is to get kids to think that they are only supposed to eat ‘kids food,’ foods in funny colors and shapes and in boxes with cartoons on them. It’s good to teach kids to recognize these techniques for what they are,” she continued.
As far as advice to offer restaurateurs developing kids menus of their own, she recommends making “all kids meals healthy. [Chefs] know how to make food taste good and they are perfectly capable of making healthful meals delicious and acceptable.”
That’s the professed goal of Spiro Pappadopoulos, owner/operator of Glory, Andover, Mass., and Evenfall, Haverhill, Mass. “We do not have a a specific menu for children, as our various menus encompass many items which some children love,” he explained. While some of his youngest patrons head straight for the macaroni and cheese others relish the opportunity to “expand their palate.”
From certified organic salmon to Kobe beef, “we do our best to provide unique, healthy, organic, and heirloom varieties of as much as we can to adults and children alike.” According to Pappadopoulos, the strategy pays off. “It is so cool to see children who are happily eating and enjoying things many people would not consider children’s food.” ?
|
|
Food and Beverage