How do chefs serve children in restaurants?

Three apples high, they're not just any customers. Serving children is a challenge, as big as it is double. The toques recognize that they have a role to play in educating the youngest taste buds. But it's also a question of providing today's service and accommodating plates that appeal to these budding palates, at the risk of creating a diplomatic incident and disrupting the atmosphere in the dining room.

"It's often said that the customer is king, but the persuasive power of children in restaurants is even stronger ," confides Hubert Chanove, chef at Le Refuge des Gourmets in Machilly. He continues: "You can serve the best menu, but if a child doesn't have a good time at the table, the whole experience can be ruined. The child is in fact the most important customer". The challenge is made all the more difficult by the fact that you don't cook the same way for a 4-year-old as you do for a 15-year-old.

In this context, there are two options. Some establishments prefer to think in terms of a children's menu, with the aim of streamlining service. " We've chosen to offer a specific children's menu so that parents don't have too many questions. What's more, the waiters in the dining room know right away what they're talking about, so they don't have to go back to the kitchen to get the information," explains Christophe Scheller, head chef at the Hôtel du Palais restaurant in Biarritz. He adds, " When you succeed in making children happy, you know that parents will be just as happy, so the dining experience is bound to go well.

But there's another way of proceeding: dip into the gastronomic menu to serve a made-to-measure offer by cooking the ingredients that are most accessible to the youngest guests. The chefs go straight to the point, and everyone's happy. A solution preferred by a large number of regional gastronomic establishments. in Paris, children's dining is more confidential, according to our research. In bistros and brasseries, children are catered for more appropriately. It should be remembered that, as a merchant, a restaurant owner does not have the right to refuse the sale of a service on the grounds of age, articles 225-1 and 225-2 of the French Penal Code. "When the discriminatory refusal is committed in a place open to the public or for the purpose of prohibiting access to it, the penalties are increased to five years' imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros", the law states.

Fortunately, there are exceptions in the capital, such as Le Pré Catelan, which offers adapted children's menus up to the age of 11. This is also the case at Anne-Sophie Pic's Parisian stronghold, La Dame de Pic. It's an obvious choice for this talented chef, who was one of the first to take on her share of responsibility in educating children about taste. In 2010, Anne-Sophie Pic devoted a special section to children's recipes in her Scook collection. in Valence, her cooking school (due to reopen in 2026) was also one of the first to dedicate a course specifically to children, as is Régis Marcon's Saint-Bonnet-le-froid today.
Spotlight on five addresses that go to great lengths to serve the very young.

La Grand'Vigne, Bordeaux

Serving young taste buds is a balancing act. You have to know how to respect the culinary soul of the place, while at the same time succeeding in making young customers melt with adapted preparations. This is Nicolas Masse 's vision at La Grand'Vigne - Les Sources de Caudalie. in Bordeaux, the chef at Les Sources de Caudalie takes his role as taste educator to heart, adapting certain preparations from the tasting menu while cooking the same canapés served "to grown-ups". Angry egg, tomato press and cauliflower en croûte are just some of the recipes that can easily be adapted for the younger guests. " The dishes we serve to children are on a par with our large plates, even if they are more accessible in their thinking ," sums up the chef. We focus our service on seasonality, while taking care to concoct healthy and creative cuisine", says the chef. We also have to surprise the kids ," he adds. For Chef Masse is keen to break away from the dusty, imposed children's menu and take his little customers on a culinary experience just as memorable as that of their parents. sometimes, " laughs Nicolas Masse, " some of them joke when they see the children's plate arriving, and say that they would have preferred that choice.

• Where to eat? Smith Haut-Lafitte, 33650 Martillac
• https://sources-caudalie.com

Hôtel du Palais, Biarritz

When it comes to educating children about taste, the whole point of a restaurant lies in its ability to draw on its local terroir to serve them. From poultry and white ham from the renowned artisan charcutier Eric Ospitale to polenta and girolles, the produce of the Basque region is at the heart of Christophe Scheller's menu at the Hôtel du Palais in Biarritz. Jean-François Rouquette's former partner at the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme even dares to serve Banka trout from the Pyrenees to younger palates. " The awakening to flavors is achieved with good local and seasonal products," he explains. He continues, "We always have fresh fish on hand, such as hake, which we have in abundance here, to delight our young guests. Christophe Scheller doesn't stop at anything, not even French fries! " The important thing is to please them and accompany them. The trick is to make a good fry with a tasty sauce ".

• Where? 1 Av. de l'Impératrice, 64200 Biarritz
• https://www.hyatt.com/

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Les Hautes Roches, Rochecorbon

In the category of establishments that prefer to use the gastronomic menu to adapt their offer to younger taste buds, Hervé Lussault comes out on top, showing that there is a difference between an 8-year-old and a 15-year-old customer. Of course, the discovery of flavors is not at the same stage, and the relationship to food is totally different. The chef at the restaurant in France's first troglodyte hotel has therefore personalized the service by offering two very distinct formulas. Younger guests, up to the age of 12, are offered a dish, dessert and drink for 22 euros, while older guests, up to the age of 16, are invited to enjoy a first taste of the culinary experience, with adapted portions. The promise remains the same as for adults, with a starter, main course and dessert, all for 40 euros.

• Where? 86 Quai de la Loire, 37210 Rochecorbon
• www.leshautesroches.com

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Le Refuge des Gourmets, Machilly

What better way to tantalize the taste buds and dare to dip the spoon than to see the kitchen in action? In Haute-Savoie, Hubert Chanove has the ingenious idea of inviting his youngest customers (up to the age of ten) to leave the table and step through to the other side of the pass. The aim: to choose their dessert in the company of the brigade of pastry chefs. There's no better invitation to indulge. " My pastry chef doesn't hesitate to let the children taste different flavors of ice cream, creams and all kinds of preparations, so that they can make up their own minds according to what they like ," adds Hubert Chanove. Before they melt with pleasure at the sweet tooth, the menu is built alongside the little guests. " We draw from the bistro's menu to serve the children. We always have accessible products like perch fillets or poultry. In an all-mushroom menu, we can extract chanterelles or girolles and serve them without the vin jaune sauce ," explains this former Jean Sulpice collaborator. We prefer to tailor the service to the age and desires of the young customer", he explains. To tame the patience of even the most restless, Hubert Chanove even offers families a table d'hôte with a privileged view of the kitchen. "This usually arouses the curiosity of the younger guests. But in any case, it never takes 45 minutes to serve a child! "he assures us.

• Where? 90 Rte des Framboises, 74140 Machilly
• www.refugedesgourmets.com

Le Faventia, Tourrettes

" Children are our most demanding customers, and we treat them as guests in their own right," says the prestigious Var establishment. It's in the kitchen that it all comes together. For new chef Quentin André works on the visual appeal of ingredients and presentation to whet the appetite, paying particular attention to color. Vegetables, for example, are cut into playful shapes, or offered on skewers or in soups to be drunk through a straw. Vegetables can be used as containers. Proposals are submitted on the recommendation of a dietician, who attaches great importance to the combination of flavors, nutritional balance and visual appeal. " We have a specific menu. The aim is to offer a 'gastro' experience adapted to children by offering them the same experience as their parents. For example, we use the same tableware ," he explains. During the school vacations, young guests can enjoy a buffet lunch at the hotel's brasserie, Le Gaudina, or at the poolside restaurant, Le Tousco.

• Where? 3100, route de Bagnols-en-Forêt 83440 Tourrettes
• www.terre-blanche.com