Dinner in the "adult" room

No, the waitresses weren't topless. It was the new kid-free section of one of our favorite local restaurants. And I must say, the spouse and I greatly enjoyed dining amongst people who knew how to use their indoor voice and weren't playing hide-and-seek under our table or using my chair as part of an obstacle course.

Don't get me wrong. We like kids. So much so that we had one of our own. And we occasionally take her out to eat with us, to family-friendly establishments (though we didn't even do that when she was younger). But there are times when one prefers to be urchin-free while dining -- a concept that some parents and restaurants don't seem to understand.

One of my friends used to call it the "white tablecloth" rule, and it went like this: If a restaurant bills itself as a fine-dining establishment and has white tablecloths covering the tables, and the average entree costs over $20, and there is no kids menu, it is inappropriate to take children there after 7 p.m. (or at all).

This is not to say you should not take your children out to dinner once in a while, but that when you do take them out, do so before 7 p.m. and/or pick a place that advertises itself as child friendly. Also, as a courtesy, please do not assume that the other diners will love your little darlings as much as you do and won't mind all the whining and carrying on. They don't and they do.

That is why this evening the spouse and I were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at 5:30 p.m. at a family friendly establishment and were taken to the "adult" room. (That is exactly what the hostess called it.) And we enjoyed a most pleasant repast, until the hostess plopped a very noisy family with at least four children at the entrance to the adult room just as we were finishing our main courses. But still... progress.

Wishing you all a bon appetit and a delicious weekend...