A couple of months ago, my friend Bill Summerville who manages the much heralded Minneapolis restaurant La Belle Vie approached me about co-hosting a dinner for an organization he created called the Junior Gourmet Club. The idea behind it is an effort to bring kids together with their parents to enjoy a kid friendly meal that is not only appealing to them but is also wholesome and healthful. Previous events had been held at both La Belle Vie and the Dakota, and they had been very successful and well received.
Since Bill knows that much of my time is spent on promoting more healthful eating habits, he rightly thought that I would be interested in hosting such a meal at Heartland. Heartland has never had a kids' menu, and while we don't discourage patrons from bringing children to our restaurant most people wouldn't consider us to be a kid friendly venue. Consequently, I had to think a little while on whether or not we would be able to accommodate such an event and do it proper justice. Bill was quick to point out that if Tim McKee could pull it off at La Belle Vie and Jack Riebel could get it done at the Dakota then I should have no problem at Heartland. After all, Tim didn't win a James Beard Award for cooking chicken fingers; and, when last checked, jazz was not the most popular music choice of the under-eighteen crowd. Ultimately, I was convinced.
While I have done a fair amount of pro bono lecturing on whole foods and healthful eating, those lectures have all been to college and vocational students. And while I spent six years working as a child psychotherapist, I sometimes get intimidated when faced with a room full of minors. As most who know me can attest, I'm not exactly Mr. Rogers. Nevertheless, I felt up to the challenge of creating a meal that kids of all ages could find enticing while not abandoning the mission as laid out by Bill and not tossing all vestiges of creativity out the window.
The first thing I did was write a preliminary menu which I bounced off of Heartland Chef de Cuisine Stephanie Kochlin. Stephanie is my very capable right hand, and she has worked with me for nearly eight years. She had some good feedback for me concerning the logistics and execution of the menu. Since I designed the Heartland kitchen to cook some very grown up food, I needed to keep in mind that certain things just shouldn't be attempted in it. At the same time, the meal needed to be something that kids could recognize and translate into a comfortable frame of reference.
Together we decided upon a first course of summer fruit salad accompanied by a house made watermelon soda. The second course would be a hamburger. In the almost seven years that Heartland has been open, we have never served a hamburger. This one would be a grass-fed beef burger with artisan cheese on a flax seed bun accompanied by plum catsup, roasted fingerling potatoes and a glass of Cedar Summit Farm organic chocolate milk. It's a fancy and nutritious hamburger, yes; but a hamburger nonetheless. As for dessert, what do kids love more than ice cream? Stephanie suggested a float. This being local strawberry season, we decided to go with a fresh strawberry ice cream float with Michigan cherry syrup. Stephanie squirreled away in our freezer a few pints of local strawberries before we took our annual two week staff holiday over the first part of July while I placed a call to preorder a sufficient quantity of Balaton cherries from our Michigan supplier. The rest will be up to our Pastry Chef Jack Fulton.
So on Wednesday, July 29th at 6:00 PM, the day before my fifty first birthday, Heartland will be hosting a Junior Gourmet Club Dinner. Kids accompanied by a parent or guardian will be welcomed into our restaurant to enjoy a three course meal prepared by us that utilizes a wide range of whole foods which have been locally and sustainably produced. In addition, they will be treated to what I hope is a not too agonizing discussion of the importance of healthful and nutritious eating and how eating in that way does not have to be stuffy or boring. Upon the culmination of the event, each attendee will be presented with a recipe for plum catsup with the hope that they will try to find the time to try their own hands at preparing what is a pretty tasty condiment.
As for me, as I turn fifty one with no children of my own, I will get to be mentor for a day to a group of kids who are interested in learning about the importance of good food. It sounds like a pretty good exchange to me.
Anyone wishing to attend this event can contact us directly at Heartland. Seating is limited so please don't delay, and thank you Bill Summerville for having the vision to think about how we as an industry can help make a positive impact in children's lives. Bill and I hope to see you there.