Izzy (and Mama) Eat: The Gourmand Grows up...

Tales of Empty Nesting ...The Next Chapter

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Of Kids, Tapas and A Long Beach Island Pearl: An Evening At Sweet Vidalia's

dining: it's all a blur


Another summer season, another reason to test out local Long Beach Island eats.

Last summer we managed to try out several local restaurants and this past week we came across some new ones. Sweet Vidalia's was the most memorable. I remember seeing it in passing last year but never got around to eating there. Thanks to C., it was one of our first experiments of the season. And how sweet it was!

This tapas restaurant has a menu bursting with one mouthwatering selection after another. Since we ordered a number of small plates for the table, we were able to sample several dishes. Each incredible bite had me yearning for another, which was difficult with Izzy trying to polish off everything in sight.

We clearly did not order enough for the table. Despite our server's clear warning to order at least 4 plates per person, we only ordered 11 dishes for the four of us. There were bacon wrapped dates, clams with chorizo, watermelon with fennel and mint, lamb chops, snails with puff pastry, Vidalia onion stuffed with lentil, short ribs (I must have then entire order for myself next time) and a never ending array of tender morsels.

Izzy joyously tucked into each dish, relishing every bite and as I watched him I realized that tapas might very well be the perfect way to introduce a young palate to a variety of flavors. The portions are small so everyone receives a forkful or two of a dish which is the point of the meal. Everyone is tasting and so a child could so easily get caught up in the camaraderie of it all, he/she might be more inclined to try new things.





Sweet Vidalia's 12th St. & Long Beach Blvd., Beach Haven 207-1200

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Okay, it's like we are in some kind of foodie mind melt or something...the tapas thing is so freakin' kid friendly, isn't it?

It's bizarre we posted about this at the same time...

And yes, as to an earlier post about grass fed beef, sometimes grass fed beef tastes funky, sometimes too bland, dry, whatever. Sometimes it is lovely but I find myself often seasoning it more than with factory beef, which seems, you know, beside the point.

Glad to hear you found a good purveyor. I really think that makes all the difference. I've been trying to find a purveyor, so keep us posted.

Izzy is completely adorable, by the way. Just had to mention the obvious...

Kim

PS: Need to e-mail you about weaning again. Got my period, but at 2 years old and after all this traveling and change and even though there is no real milk to speak of, Edie is breastfeeding like crazy. Need to have a weaning plan in case we get pregnant again, which I hope will be this year. I'd love to get your advice about the best way to handle this for her, so she isn't tramautized...HELP!

xx Kim