Table talk
· Thalia Loffredo
· Kenny Callaghan
· Monica Bellissimo
· Floyd Cardoz
· ONLINE EXCLUSIVETerrance Brennan
· ONLINE EXCLUSIVEMarc Murphy
Thalia Loffredo
Owner of Zoë and Jovia, and mom to Cena, 10
Where do you take your daughter out to eat?
Everywhere and anywhere. We’ve been eating out with her since she was a newborn.
What’s her favorite dish at your restaurant?
We eat at Zoë since it’s near our house. She loves the slow-roasted duck. She’d eat it every day if I let her. But I won’t let her.
Where do you take her besides Zoë?
We eat a lot of Asian: Japanese, Korean restaurants with sunken grills. Do Hwa is a favorite. I feel just as comfortable taking her to five-star restaurants.
What adventurous food item have you pushed on her?
I’m really proud of what she’s tried on her own: wild boar pappardelle, sweetbreads. To this day I don’t think she knows what they are. I don’t have the heart to tell her the truth. She also eats blue cheese.
She’s a cheese lover?
Cena and [husband and Jovia co-owner] Stephen both love artisanal cheese. It’s like a game. They go out and buy a bunch of different cheeses. They come home, put them on a board and do a taste test.
Any tips for parents who want to acclimate their kids to restaurants?
Bring a bag of goodies. With Cena it started with books and toys. Now it’s a Game Boy and a novel. She complains about the lighting in the finer restaurants!
Zoë Restaurant, 90 Prince St between Broadway and Mercer St (212-966-6722, zoerest.com); Jovia, 135 E 62nd St between Park and Lexington Aves (212-752-6000).
Kenny Callaghan
Executive chef and partner in Blue Smoke, and dad to Kenny, 7, and Sean, 4
What was your relationship with food as a kid?
Growing up in an Irish family in New Jersey, I ate what was put in front of me: corned beef and cabbage, liver with bacon and onions. Definitely acquired tastes, but I wound up liking them. My wife spoils the kids more than my mom did with me. I started making my own decisions at ten. My kids started as soon as they could talk.
Where do you take your children out to eat?
They love coming here! They love the mac and cheese and the ribs.
Is there any restaurant where you’ve eaten only to placate them?
My wife takes them once a week to McDonald’s or Burger King as a treat, but I don’t condone it. There are a lot of restaurants I’ll go to with them that serve chicken nuggets and french fries, though. I compromise for the good of the experience.
Is there anything they don’t like?
They won’t touch fish.
Do you have any tips for parents who want to expand their kids’ palates?
I bribe mine with bacon. Six weeks ago, I got them to eat pasta sauce with sausage, meatballs and veal. Kenny eats tomatoes on pizza but not on pasta. So I made him try the tomato sauce, promising him he could have bacon the next day. When he finally tried it, he said, “Hey, Dad, that’s not bad.”
Blue Smoke, 116 E 27th St between Park Ave South and Lexington Ave (212-447-7733, bluesmoke.com).
Monica Bellissimo
Executive pastry chef at davidburke & donatella, and mom to Holden, 8
What’s your son’s favorite dish at davidburke & donatella?
He’s a big fan of the sorbet. It’s his number one thing.
What does he dislike on the menu?
He loves everything as long as it’s not too spicy. Our [Crisp and] Angry Lobster Cocktail is too angry for him.
Is he generally willing to try new things?
He always eats what I eat. When we go out, the weirder the food looks, the more it interests him. Everyone who sees him says, “This kid is such a good eater!”
Were you the same way growing up?
Yes. If there was something interesting, I always had to order that off the menu. Probably for shock value.
Does he ever get into the kitchen with you?
Holden’s definitely into being a scientist and creating potions. He makes drinks and writes down the recipes. He says, “I’m going to write a cookbook.”
What strange foods have you pushed on your son?
We go out a lot in Chinatown. We walk around and try weird soups and fruits, like kumquats. But when he’s with his father it’s a different matter.
He eats differently with his dad?
His dad is not the most adventurous eater. And when they’re out Holden will take on that persona and eat a lot of pizza and chicken fingers. He’s more of a sushi kid with me.
davidburke & donatella, 133 E 61st St between Park and Lexington Aves (212-813-2121, dbdrestaurant.com).
Floyd Cardoz
Partner and Executive chef at Tabla, author of One Spice, Two Spice, and father of Peter, 14, and Justin, 9
Where do you take your kids out to eat?
We go to Japanese because both of my kids like sushi. We just had the chef’s tasting menu at Blue Ribbon, which is great. But we also eat BBQ, like Blue Smoke, and go out to [Tabla’s] Bread Bar. I try to mix it up, but I won’t take them anywhere I’ve not been to before. I have to make sure that the place isn’t too stuffy. I also try to take them out earlier, when there are more kids. If they’re comfortable, we have more fun.
Are there any restaurants you go to just to placate your kids?
I’ve gone to Burger King, which I absolutely can’t stand.
What are their favorite dishes at your restaurant?
They love the cheese kulcha, which is cheese-stuffed nan, and the crab cake.
Anything they won’t touch?
Maybe the chicken. Chicken’s a little too boring for them.
What strange foods have you pushed on your sons?
I never push food. My father was always saying, “Try this. It’s good for you.” I didn’t want anything that was “good” for me! So with my kids, I’ll tell them what anything is and just let them come around on their own.
For example?
My wife and I would go out for dim sum. We’d order normal stuff for the kids, like dumplings, and stranger stuff for us, like duck feet, tripe and snails. I’d say, “You eat your stuff and we eat our stuff.” But when the kids saw us eating something different, they wanted to taste it.
Tabla, 11 Madison Ave between 24th and 25th Sts (212-889-0667, tablany.com).
Terrance Brennan
Executive Chef–owner of Picholine and Artisanal, and dad to Ryan, 14; Caroline, 12; and Carson, 8
Are your kids adventurous eaters?
The older one has a diet of hamburgers, steak and potatoes. He doesn’t like new things. My daughter will try ethnic foods and is really adventurous. My youngest shows the most interest in cooking. He likes to watch the food channel and wants to cook with me.
How did you get your kids into food?
Smell. It activates the taste buds. Anything I’m evaluating I’m smelling first. Like with pasta sauce. I can smell if there’s too much acid, if it’s scorched. So when [my son] Ryan was younger, I would make coffee and have him smell the aroma. I’d say, “That’s how daddy evaluates dishes.” So now they smell everything before they taste it. My youngest, Carson, can smell something before I can!
So where do you go out to eat?
There’s an Italian restaurant called Mediterraneo in Greenwich, Connecticut, that we like to go to. The kids will order pizza and I’ll have calamari salad and osso bucco, or sometimes the pizza.
Are there any restaurants you go to just to placate the kids?
There’s a Japanese restaurant we go to with a Hibachi grill that’s a lot of fun. The chef tosses the egg up and cracks it on the spatula. The kids love it. But would I go there on my own? Oh nooo.
What are their favorite dishes at your restaurants?
They like the fondue and the steak frites.
Anything they won’t touch?
None of them like cheese.
Really?
I don’t know what it is! I haven’t pushed them but I should. I should tell them, this is your college education here. You better start liking cheese.
Marc Murphy
Executive chef-owner of Landmarc and Ditch Plains, and dad to Campbell, 3 1/2 and Callen, 4 months.
Do you take your kids to eat at your restaurants?
All the time. That’s why we’re so kid friendly. We have twelve high chairs and sometimes they’re all being used.
Do the kids have favorites from your menus?
Like most kids, Campbell likes hamburgers, chicken fingers, pasta. She also loves clams. I don’t know why. We were at a party this summer and there was a raw clam bar and she stood there and ate about 10 of them.
So, she’s not shy about trying new things?
No, she’s pretty adventurous.
What’s the strangest thing she’s tasted and liked?
When she was very young, I was working on a new recipe for fenel salad and smoked oysters with a smoked oyster vinaigrette and she loved the smoked oysters. And that’s a pretty strong flavor for a child.
No kidding. Anything else?
She loves pesto. We make green eggs in the morning and we use pesto to make the eggs green. That’s one of her favorites.
Does she equate it with “Green Eggs and Ham”?
Oh yeah, absolutely. I’ve just never really gotten around to making the ham green.
Have your kids ever inspired anything on your menu?
One day Campbell said, ‘Daddy do we have any pizza?’ and I said, no, but we have English muffins, and mozzarella and tomato sauce so I guess we could have little baby pizzas. We then ended up putting them on the menu.
Any tips for parents who are taking their kids for an adventurous meal?
Don’t make a big deal out of it. I’ve found that adventurous eating only becomes a problem once the parents interject their feelings towards it. We always tell our daughter that she can’t tell if she’s going to like something if she hasn’t tried it. Usually she ends up liking most things.
Your kids want to eat:
Mac and cheese | Chicken fingers | Lemonade | French fries | A hot fudge sundae | Tacos | Hot chocolate | Grilled cheese | A milkshake
Patty time! | Table talk | Eat with your hands | Dinner theater
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