Dine Out Early and Often

By Andrew Hunter

Since we’re in the restaurant business, it’s part of our job to eat at a variety of restaurants from the dives to the fancy ones, now and then. Regardless of where we go, the boys need to be well behaved. We believe every family needs a motto so ours is, “dine out early and often.” Early in life, early in the evening and at least once a week. It makes for happy, cooperative little diners along the way. And it makes dining out a pleasure for the entire family.

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A Meatless Meal your Kids will Love

By Andrew Hunter

Whether you eat meat or not, there’s one thing some of us agree on … that we could eat less of it. I first heard of Meatless Monday from my friend Tal Ronnen, who Oprah touts as the best vegan chef in the world. Tal, who used to eat meat, would like to revolutionize the way the world experiences meatless food with his book, The Conscious Cook. He’s not a proponent of eliminating meat from our diets, just eating less, less often.

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Abbondanza!

By Andrew Hunter

In the fashion world, the philosophy of “less is more” often applies, but in the food world, “more is better” wins the day. Chefs like to impress with flavor, spice and big presentations. That’s why expressions like, “Bam!” and “Kick it up a notch!” are so popular.

Wolfgang used to say, “Abbondanza!” to me when I was creating a new plate for the dining room. Abbondanza means “abundance” in Italian, but to Wolfgang Puck it means more meat, more veggies, more color, more flavor, more height, more everything! The more, the merrier.

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Messy Meals

By Andrew Hunter

I coach our boys’ football, baseball, basketball and soccer teams. It’s the highlight of my day to be on a field running around with the neighborhood kids. They all enjoy learning to throw spiral passes, catch pop flies and kick goals, but they really, really enjoy getting dirty. They’ll dive for fly balls 10 feet from their gloves and slide into second when the play’s at third…all with the hope of getting dirty.

Dirt’s a badge of honor when you’re a kid. So why would the dinner table be any different?

Messy meals are popular in our house and Sloppy Joes are the perfect messy meal. They’re a saucy concoction of ground meat and vegetables perched precariously between a top and bottom bun. We spike our Joes with onions, tomatoes and fresh herbs, depending on our mood.

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Tricky Nicky

By Andrew Hunter

Sometimes Marilyn and I sit at the dinner table and watch in amazement as our two boys eat. Or rather while Benny eats and Nicky twists, turns and falls off his chair; pulls a Lego airplane from his pocket to crash into his otherwise untouched green beans; and pokes his brother in the ribs before proclaiming he’s "all full". Without skipping a beat, Benny reaches over and steals Nicky’s potatoes. How can two children come from the same place and be so different?

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