The New York Times today has a fun article (registration required) on parents who are trying to share a sense of culinary adventure with their kids, leading to a growing number of resources for them. More and more restaurants, including higher-end gourmet and ethnic ones, have children’s menus. Culinary centers are offering kids’ classes. Home furnishing stores sell pricey toy kitchens and cooking implements. (Cardboard boxes and empty deli containers work equally well, in my opinion.) Although much of this youthful gastronomy is clearly an upper-middle-class phenomenon, it’s a nice counterpoint to all the negative stories one hears about kids’ eating habits.
The Times’ article also mentions the wonderful Gastrokid blog, which includes posts like The Pizza Palate Expansion Project and The Last-Minute Breakfast Club, as well as a Google Maps mashup of kid-friendly restaurants. Give it a read if you’re looking to expand your children’s palates—or your own. If your kids are picky eaters, though, take heart from this tidbit in the Times: celebrity chef Mario Batali’s son “will not eat anything with green flecks.”