Dining with Child Revisited

The last time I discussed dining with our son A, he was still an infant. As you may recall, L & I brought A to a very sleek restaurant (Dolce) and he proceeded to expel a thick green vomit all over himself and the floor around him. Nice. Well, now he's nearly 3. The perils of dining with a three year old are considerably different than those of dining with an infant.

Case in point: recently, we had dinner at Bistro Niko, a new restaurant here in Atlanta. Now, as I have previously confessed my love of French bistros, you may imagine that I've been dying to check out Bistro Niko. I would have preferred using my first Bistro Niko experience as an excuse to get a sitter and have an "adults-only" dinner with L. The problem was I just didn't kow when we'd be able to do that. The schedules are so difficult.

So I made 5:30 reservations for 3 on a Sunday. That particular day was quite busy. We took A to the circus at noon, followed by an hour or so playing in the park. We had enough time to clean up, before heading back out for dinner. A had no nap and very little lunch. All this is to say, that upon arriving at the restaurant, A was bouncing off the walls.

They sat us at a table for 4 which had 8 crystal wine glasses across the middle. I avoided disaster by asking Rashid, our server, to remove them pronto! A just would not sit still. He was loud, whiny, bored and agitated. I thought to myself (but did not say aloud) "maybe this was mistake..." L ran out to the car to get A's toy cars for him to play with. And I walked, or rather chased, A around the restaurant. Although I usually say that "A is for adorable," that night "A" was for annoying. I concluded that we'd have to make it a quick dinner so we could get out of there without bringing too much shame and embarassment upon ourselves.

When Rashid came to take our order, we quickly ordered A a croque monsieur and frites (grilled ham and cheese with fries) and ordered ourselves escargot and a pate charcuterie. We felt defeated but were determined to try to salvage the dinner.

And then a miracle happened. Rashid brought the bread course. We gave A some bread and butter. Then we gave him more. Apparently, the poor child was starving. He happily and quietly ate several pieces of bread. In fact, he finished the bread basket. When his sandwich came, he devoured it. All this food cause an immediate transformation. He returned to his usual fun, funny, sweet self. A was for adorable, once more.

This allowed L & I to enjoy our delicious dinners (beef bourgonnone for him, skate wing for me). We shared a bottle of red wine and had pistachio profiteroles for dessert. While we ate, A laughed, played, sang and kissed and hugged us. We did not have to rush. It was lovely. In fact, it was a blast. My friends never believe me when I say it, but in all honesty, dining out is more fun when A is involved.