Fine dining with baby
-
- October
- 22
We splurged this Sunday after we scored a reservation at the new Mario Batali/Joe Bastianich restaurant, Tarry Lodge, in Port Chester. I had been reading about the new pizzeria/trattoria for months, from not only our very own food writer Liz Johnson, but from Westchester magazine which had an interview with Bastianich over the summer, in which he described his new digs as a family restaurant. Those two words, these days, always catch my attention.
So after I called on Thursday, thinking there would be no way we could get a reservation for the weekend, I was pleasantly surprised that in fact they could seat a party of three with highchair on Sunday. Of course, asking for a 4 p.m. seating may have helped. I’ve learned it’s best to go “early bird” when dining with baby. It just makes everyone more comfortable.
When we arrived promptly at 4, the staff was running a few minutes late. No problem. There were two couples ahead of us, so we passed the time perusing the menu. Suddenly I heard the woman in the green sweater—obviously running the show that day—say to the two hostesses: seat the lady with the baby first, in the mezzanine. I thought great, there are perks to dining with child. Of course, the mezzanine was not exactly the best part of the restaurant. Still, not a problem. We were there for the food—which I must stress right now, was superb!!! Hands down, one of the better meals I’ve ever eaten.
We were seated at a four-top and put Zyla’s highchair in between us, close to the wall. If she’s sandwiched in, it’s easier for one of us to catch any flying food. That’s actually never been a problem, but you never know. She’s actually very well behaved—and very cute—when we go out to eat, she even flirts with the waiters and says goodbye to patrons as she exits. But there’s always that slight feeling of being on guard—especially when you are eating at a white-linen, five-other-people-besides-the-waiter-comes-to-check-on-you type of establishment—that baby could act out at any moment. She did scream out once when we wouldn’t let her play with the votive, but that was it for the whole hour-plus experience. I figured that paled in comparison to the harmless menu fire that went on at the table next to us.
At one point, a party of four seated next to us moved, which happened to be after Zyla yelped. My husband assured me it was because they wanted a table in the good section of the restaurant, but I’m not so sure. I thought it was because of her, but who really knows. Still, it bothers me when people get annoyed by a baby at a restaurant. I guess that could be selfish on my part.
All in all, it was a great time and as we walked away with Zyla’s tiny little hand in each of ours, wandering the streets of Port Chester looking for an empanda to bring to her grandmother, I thought we should do this more often. I don’t think our bank accounts would agree, though.
For more on the Tarry Lodge, visit Liz Johnson’s small bites blog on lohud.com
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 at 5:49 pm by Marcela Rojas.
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