Should fine dining establishments go out of their way to accomodate toddlers?

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by Low C Sharp

This. I don't draw the line between fellow diners based on age, but on behavior. IMHO, anyone who behaves appropriately for the setting is welcome at the table next to me; those who do not, are not.

The article lists a few child-friendly restaurants because most places of that caliber do not welcome children. There are something like 10,000 restaurants in New York City. It makes sense to me that some upscale ones would cater to children (particularly those based in hotels, like the Robuchon place in the Four Seasons) and others would not. I don't have any problem with a subset of restaurants branding themselves as more welcoming and others more exclusive. Last year my family brought our two-year-old to lunch at the Four Seasons in San Francisco and received, bar none, the best service I've ever seen in my life -- service so superb that it kept the child happy and quiet for much longer than we had expected to stay in the restaurant.

That being said, there are four little kids in my extended family right now, and they're very different from one another. I have a 4-year-old nephew who, frankly, I don't enjoy taking to McDonald's. I would go hungry before I'd bring him to Gramercy Tavern! But my 7-year-old niece has been a superb dining companion, with excellent manners and varied tastes, since she was 2. We didn't blink an eye bringing her to white-tablecloth places (albeit not of the Daniel or Per Se caliber), and she was better dressed and better behaved than some of the adult diners.

I think 7 years old is getting close to the age where you could consider taking a child to some nicer restaurants. Like you said, Daniel and Per Se would be too much, but Per Se, specifically could challenge the staying power of an adult with the average dining time of 4 hours. I wouldn't mind seeing a well behaved child under 10 at a haute cuisine restaurant, and would actually be impressed that the parents have introduced such varied foods to the child so that he/she will eat something other than chicken nuggets! (I think the children's menu is the worst thing to happen to American dining.)