Do We Really Need the Kids’ Menu? – Charlotte Magazine

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I recently attended an omakase dinner at Kappo En, a speakeasy-style dining room in the back of Menya Daruma, the Japanese noodle counter in Elizabeth. If you’re not familiar, omakase is Japanese for “I’ll leave it up to you,” and it’s a multicourse, chef-curated meal where you get to watch the chefs at work. 

Owner Ted Nakato said I could bring one guest. I asked if I could bring my sushi-loving 10-year-old son, who had been begging me to take him to an omakase dinner. Nakato graciously agreed to my request but warned me that the 18-course meal is not particularly kid-friendly. He asked if they could dial back the spice level for him. I told him not to make any modifications for us.

If you read our sister publication, Charlotte Parent, you might be familiar with “The Pint-Sized Foodie” column that’s penned by my son. (It’s nepotism, I know, but he accepts food as payment, and if he’s late on a deadline, I know where he lives.) He’s had an adventurous palate for as long as he’s been on solids—and please don’t mistake this for a humblebrag. My 8-year-old was suspicious of mac and cheese until she was 4, so my son’s lack of pickiness could be a stroke of dumb luck.

But it did get me wondering: Are we sabotaging kids’ eating habits by serving them starchy, monochromatic foods? And more important, has the food industry sold us on the idea that they require a separate menu? 

Since having children, I’ve noticed how rarely I see kids menus outside the U.S. Go to almost any sports bar or fast-casual spot in this country, and you’re likely to find a lineup of butter noodles, chicken nuggets, and grilled cheese for little ones. Nakato, who grew up in a Japanese household in America, says it’s not my imagination. When he brings his two children, ages 10 and 12, to Japan, he sees a different attitude toward children and food. 

“In Japan, a lot of Western-style restaurants have a kids set called Okosama Lunch,” he says. “It’s like a pasta or hamburger steak, not on a bun, and a fruit or vegetable. But a lot of what I see in Japanese restaurants are just smaller portions of what adults eat. Here, we’re simplifying it instead of exposing them to different flavor profiles.”

It might explain why so many picky eaters grow up to be picky adults. Food writer Bee Wilson explores this in her 2015 book, First Bite, which draws on research from food psychologists, neuroscientists, and nutritionists. Our food habits are shaped by a range of factors, like family, culture, and memory. But she found that babies are most open to trying new flavors between 4 and 7 months. Most pediatricians (including my own) say children have to try a new food 15 to 20 times before they get used to and like it. Young palates, it seems, are quite malleable. 

Nakato agrees that a child’s willingness to try new things is a combination of nature and nurture. But as a restaurant owner, he recognizes that a kids menu helps get more families in the door. “We have a kids noodle bowl, but it’s the same soup and noodles, just without as many toppings. As far as a flavor profile, it’s the same.”

While childrens menus in America set the bar pretty low, he thinks kids might just rise to the culinary bar we set for them. “We had a 9-month-old recently, and the parents used the noodles to introduce her to solids,” he says. “It’s been one of her favorites. Since then, they bring their baby in all the time.”

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Taylor Bowler

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