Parents with a taste for fine dining are now bringing their toddlers to Michelin-starred restaurants through a new kiddie dining club. The Times writes that the service, called Nibble and Squeak, rents out either private dining spaces or entire restaurants for parents to bring their babies for a meal — including at places like Landmarc, Luksus, and Delaware and Hudson. Writer Margaux Laskey went to one such event at Upland, where about 20 moms, 20 kids under 2, and a few dads ate a family meal. With crying babies, nursing mothers, and flying farro, it wasn't the fine dining experience Laskey remembered, but she was pleased. "I hadn’t been to a restaurant with cloth napkins since my younger daughter was born in July 2014," she writes.
The club is a way for parents to give their kids a "lesson in how to behave at a fancy restaurant" without worrying that they'll disturb the other diners, Laskey writes. "I had experienced firsthand how difficult it was going to nicer restaurants [with a young child]," founder Melissa Elders tells Laskey. "But I had also experienced that the best way to make it less stressful was to have a support system of family members or other mothers with kids."
That said, it may cost a premium to be in the more kid-friendly setting. The Upland meal cost $74 per adult, while a dinner upstairs probably would have run $50 to $60, Laskey writes. Still, apparently there's a lot of food — and it gives 10-month-olds like Tony Vaccarelli the chance to realize his affinity for broccoli rabe with 'nduja. Parents and tots interested in joining can attend a tasting menu lunch at Greenpoint hit Luksus later this month for $125 per person.