The Pint-Sized Palate – A Kid’s Take on New York Food

Worth the Wait

By Churchill Stone

Dante West Village
551 Hudson Street

It was a snowy morning when my mom brought me along to have brunch with a friend. She used to be an international journalist and I was very excited to go out with her.

Originally, my mom had booked a table at Dante Aperitivo, but our reservation was moved to Dante West Village because Dante Aperitivo had a private party. This was very exciting because I had never been to Dante West Village. It’s the restaurant on Perry and Hudson that always has a line outside.

Unlike most restaurants I visit, this one actually has a Kids Menu which is very good. It has pastas, grilled cheese, a cheeseburger and more. But since I’m ten and a half, I decided that I might like the regular menu more, and I did.

But first they gave us a cocktail menu. I asked if they had lemonade, and they did— this is generally a good sign for a kid-friendly restaurant. A tall glass with a tower of ice arrived and it was very tasty. My mother convinced her friend to order a “Fluffy Margarita” because that is the famous cocktail at Dante, and each Dante has their own special margarita.

My mom had a cappuccino which arrived with the cutest picture of a bear holding a ball in the foam! I was still thirsty after my lemonade and since we were having a ladies’ lunch, I asked if I could have a mocktail. My mom said, “Sure, go ahead.” I ordered the Cosmo Mojito which had a bright magenta color, two orange slices, basil and teeny tiny cute ice cubes which were good to munch on. But like the lemonade, it was only a five-sip drink. I grabbed the mocktail list again, but my mom cut me off.

Before ordering, I asked the waiter about some of the best dishes. He mentioned the granola, the burrito, and the huevos rancheros, so we ordered all three including two of the burritos. The steak burrito seemed to be on everyone’s table, so I had to try it. It had eggs, a stew of meat and beans, cheese, and tomatoes and onion. I was excited when it arrived, but I don’t like tomatoes and onions so I tried to get them out of the burrito. It got messy. Our friend ordered the same burrito but asked to not have the steak as she is a vegetarian, and they were happy to do that for her.

I had never had granola before and this was a good one for my first try. My mom said it was “high-quality,” but by then she was full from her huevos rancheros. So, I ate half and brought the rest home for my dad who loved it.

In the end, I still had a craving for something sweet. I remembered that one dessert on the Kids Menu sounded very good – “Soft-baked sugar cookies and rainbow sprinkles in panna ice cream.” My mom said, “No way” because we had already ordered a lot. But her friend convinced my mom that I should try it since it was the holidays. And it was so good. I would recommend this dessert even for adults!

We walked back out into the cold weather, happy with our brunch at Dante. I was still thinking about that scoop of sugar cookie ice cream, like a ball of snow with rainbows.