On our way to the miniature amusement park Enchanted Island the other day, I noticed that we were passing by a restaurant that I had heard good things about called My Florist Cafe. So, I talked the fam into going there for lunch on the way home (since, as I mentioned, Enchanted Island has only 8 rides, you can easily make it through there before lunch).
My Florist Cafe is "new" and I put that in quotes because back in the days that Gary and I were DINKS, we went to restaurants when they were actually new, as in they had just opened. Nowadays, new is a more relative concept, covering anywhere from just opened in approximately the last 2 years, to opened for many years but we haven't managed to find a babysitter yet so we haven't been there, or even "I haven't heard of this place so it must be new."
Still, I occasionally delude myself into thinking that we can act like sophisticated adults who just happen to have a couple of kids lunching with us. So, off we went to this "new" restaurant for lunch. For those of you who don't live in the Phoenix area, bear with me here because I still need your opinion, even though you've probably never heard of this place. (By the way, do any of you live in the Phoenix area other than
my BFF Eileen who claims that she reads my blog even though she's only
ever left one comment in the history of my whole blogging career, not
that I'm bitter or anything?)
I need you to help me make my mind up about My Florist Cafe because I have some mixed feelings about the place. First of all, it was SO cool and hip and chic and trendy and I really, really, really wanted to feel like I belonged there. It's in one of those old buildings that have been rediscovered, remodeled and turned into stylish new places -- kinda like an old loft of warehouse, except that Phoenix never had any of those to begin with as far as I can tell. I'm pretty sure that this place used to be a florist, thus the name. Anyhow, it's a great trendy spot. I had to walk all the way down the street to get a photo of their cool retro sign -- I hope you all appreciate what I do for you.

Even the parking lot is both retro-chic and gorgeous:
They are affiliated with the artisinal bakery next door, that looked very, very yummy and where we visited for dessert.

I was trying to play it cool inside the restaurant and not gawk and take photos but there were a lot of windows and brightly painted walls, mirrors, metal and art.

The place was packed with beautiful people, though I refrained through sheer force of iron will from taking their pictures. The older couple sitting beside us looked perfect -- she was of course wearing some sort of pants suit, y0u know slacks and jacket, silk blouse kinda ensemble. There were two other ladies another table over who were having a "ladies lunch" in their pretty dresses and long, flowing perfect hair; flirting with the waiter. I, by contrast, looked like this.
Note that the photo was taken by Gary earlier in the day on one of those thrilling coin-operated rides I was telling you about. Yes, I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt (both of which I bought at Costco, by the way). For lunch, I did take off the Phoenix Coyotes hat though I'm not sure that helped much with the overall look.
I don't mean to imply that anyone turned their noses up at us or anything, they gave us a nice table right in the middle of the restaurant and we had decent service. My objection to the place was the lack of kid food. I've already shared with you my pre-parenting hopes and dreams in which my children would eat only wholesome, healthy, vegetable-laden meals. Those dreams have long been discarded in the face of the stark reality of trying to get young kids to simply eat something, anything. At restaurants that something has come to be, more often than not, your standard restaurant repertoire of chicken fingers, pizza, mac & cheese or pasta. So, imagine my dismay when faced with a menu filled with food like Turkey and Brie on Pumpernickel or Tuna Almodine. They did offer PB&J but fancy "adult" PB&J on some sort of sesame bread and made with "blackberry chambord preserves." Interesting? Yes. Kid-friendly? Not so much. Julie ordered the turkey sandwich, hold the brie, hold the Pumpernickel. It arrived, however, with a very spicy mustard that ruined it for her.
On the other hand, the "adult" food was amazing. Daniel loves fruit, so he ended up with the gargantuan and beautiful fruit plate.
And I had one of the best salads I've ever had in my life (which is saying something because, honestly, I don't like salad that much. Isn't it gorgeous?

AND, one very important factor was the natural light in the place, which you may have noticed is one of my obsessions. I took this photo of Julie which has got to be my favorite so far of 2008.
So, I'm sure this is way more than you ever wanted to know about our lunch, but my question is this: should you expect that a restaurant will offer at least one of the standard, bland kid-menu items? Should I applaud their efforts to try to "reinvent" kid food to maybe make it more interesting and get my kids to broaden their culinary horizons? Or is that just showing how out-of-touch these people are with real kids or, worse, a subtle way of discouraging people from bringing kids there, and so I should feel like my kids were snubbed? Am I crazy to even be spending so much time thinking about this? Feel free to weigh in, friends.
In the meantime, I guess we will plan not to visit again until my kids are in college or we find a babysitter, whichever comes first. I'm really going to miss that salad though.
Recent Comments