The rise and rise of the foodie kid

While I don't profess to be a gourmet or possess any gastro-credentials, I do love good food and make it a point to try out iconic or new and interesting restaurants both at home and abroad.  That said, I can't even call myself an amateur cook, I don't make it a point to hunt down the freshest seasonal produce or artisanal ingredients, and I certainly don't swoon over state-of-the-art kitchen equipment or cooking utensils. Thus when I use the term "foodie", it should be loosely interpreted as one who enjoys food as I do, likes to talk about food and new restaurants, and plans holidays around A-list restaurants and other foodie haunts.  

As a foodie parent, I was determined that foodie-training should begin way before potty-training, and so both my offspring (aged 9 and 2) were introduced from an early age to a wide range of cuisines and exposed to sophisticated adult food.  I harp on about the importance and the joys of eating together as a family.  Gastronomic milestones (their first taste of uni/foie gras/stilton) are cherished as fondly as developmental milestones (their first smile/step/word) in our family.  In common with other foodie kids, they have done their fair share of Michelin-star restaurants, initially as infant observers and now as fully fledged participants.  Lest you think us a bunch of pretentious gits (I can see hubby's eyes rolling here), let me hasten to add that we love our comfort food too, whether it's a hearty plate of spag bol, a juicy beef burger or Hainanese chicken rice. This multi-faceted approach seems to have worked, for the two of them share my passion for eating well. 

The good news is there are many foodie kids out there with finely honed palates. You know this because restaurant staff rarely bat an eyelid these days when they see young children padding into establishments that would have frowned upon such company not so long ago.

In some respects, I believe this small but growing segment of the market will present the biggest challenge to restaurateurs in the not-so-distant future. They are the most demanding customers (they know exactly what they want and have no qualms in letting you know their likes and dislikes), they are purists in the truest sense (they want simple, tasty food, and as any foodie knows, that can only be achieved with the freshest of ingredients), their judgement is unclouded by food reviews or Michelin star ratings (most have not started to read yet), they are totally unfazed by haughty and aloof maître d's (children don't notice these things) and, most importantly, decor and food aside, restaurants must be defined by that special something, a certain je ne sais quoi, to merit a ranking in their books.

And it's not just the restaurateurs. Patissiers and chocolatiers, beware the unstoppable rise of the foodie child, who knows his Pierre Hermé from Sadaharu Aoki, Jean-Paul Hévin from Pierre Marcolini, and can reel off those names faster than he can recite his times tables.  But it's good news for everyone else in the foodie world, because it can only mean one thing - the setting of new standards of culinary excellence.

So here's looking at you, foodie kid!