Moto Restaurant with My Mom

As I mentioned, I recently enjoyed a fantastical dinner at Moto restaurant with my mom, courtesy of chef and mastermind of molecular gastronomy, Homaro Cantu.
When our 10s, or ten course meal, began with the words, "You may now eat your menu," it was clear we were in for an unusual evening. Had we been more strategic, we would have eaten a large breakfast and then nibbled lightly, very lightly during the day in order to prepare our bodies for this marathon of meals, ten courses at Moto.

Each staff person we encountered at Moto was either a culinary student or graduate of such a school. Take for instance, the dapper Trevor Hamblin, who gave us thorough descriptions of each course (twice), each drink, patiently answered our many questions and chatted more amicably with my mother than I did (kidding!).

After noshing on our menus, we were eager for the first course: chicaqua ("shee-cah-gwa") onions, the city's namesake. Cute, tiny, pink onions with a bulb the size of my 10 year-old son’s pinky nail served with flat bread. Delightful.
It could take as long to blog this meal as it did to eat--2.5 hours(!), so I'll share highlights.

The chef works with trained sommeliers to come up with pleasing combinations. The most interesting pairing was this German rauche bier or smoked beer. Mmm. tastes like bacon...and beer. Interesting.

The "Reuben lasagna," looked like the latter, but tasted like the former. Consisting of brisket, Swiss cheese, and sauerkraut, the sandwich, I mean lasagna, smelled like a childhood memory, but I'm not sure which one. Trying to place that elusive scent, I kept sniffing, deeply inhaling to no avail, but fortunately did not draw attention from curious onlookers.
The Cuban pork sandwich was a definite win and the presentation was brilliant.
The cigar-sandwich consisted of braised pork confit and (something else), mixed with in-house pickles and white bread, deep fried, wrapped in braised collard greens then in smoked red pepper puree sitting atop a bed of ash made of black and white sesame seed ground with Cuban spices. The presentation is wonderful. It was a bit salty, but overall crisp, chewy, and satisfying.

Bubble Tea?No, watermelon soup! This got points for originality, but then again so did every other course of the evening. Dig if you will this picture, watermelon consomme with ginger and lemon, “scallop sous vide in lemon oil” with citrus peel for flavor and a bit of mint. The broth itself was intriguing, but the fish combo didn't work for my Mom or me. For what it's worth, I'm not a huge fan of Bubble Tea, either.

How about rabbit maki risotto? Looks like sushi, but it's not. This mouthful was made with rabbit loin and brussels sprouts wrapped in mushroom paper and rolled in rice, as well as sesame and poppy seeds. It was served with aoli with allspice, and daikon marinated in beet juice instead of ginger and freeze-dried peas instead of wasabi. Tasty as long I could keep thoughts of cute little bunnies out of my head.

Remember our patient waiter? He must have thought I was hard of hearing I asked him to describe this next dish over and over again. Broccoli rabe and pork belly braised in stock that starts with caramel and is flavored with lemon grass, chili, and like five other things that boil down into the glaze.

The dish was too complicated for me to transcribe (did I mention the many glasses of wine?) no matter how many times Trevor repeated it. Mushroom stems pureed blah blah and made into what sounds like a meringue version of the original mushroom. WTH? But, oh, look how lovely!
Delicious course; I especially liked the sweet and delicious glaze that had just a hint of spice.

Not quite, but close to dessert, we enjoyed this classic Italian dessert morphed into a savory Mexican one.

The actual dessert courses included Pad Thai-esque sorbet," mango cream, vanilla rice pudding, coconut sorbet, and lime slice made out of thai basil, cilantro and lime juice Mom told me she'll never look at pad thai the same way.


We ended the meal, which felt like more of an event, really, with a root beer float Moto-style. That is, a beaker of locally brewed root beer topped with a vanilla infused packing peanut dipped in liquid nitrogen, for a magical effect.


Our dinner at Moto was an unforgettable mother-daughter experience, but heck, dining partners aside, dinner at Moto is just plain memorable.

Hana Asian Bistro: A Scrambled CAKE restaurant review

Hana Asian Bistro
Fashion Square Shopping Center
9434 Skokie, Boulevard
Skokie, IL 60077
847-677-hana (4262)
http://www.hanaasianbistro.com/

Entrées are $10-$15.

Kids bento box meals $7-$8: choice of chicken teriyaki, dumplings, tempura, cooked sushi

A guest post by DH.

We may have found our new go-to Chinese joint at Hana Asian Bistro, just south of Old Orchard Mall (Westfield Shoppingtown, if you must).

Hana joins Kim's yearning for fresh sushi with a kitchen that can cook me fresh hot and sour soup.

The co-owner, Ray, said his architect partner painted the ceilings black, hung rice paper lanterns and built the dark hardwood paneled half-walls, which are topped with a faux oversize brick stucco pattern. Linen napkins lay atop dark hardwood tables with matching chairs that direct your focus to the centerpiece, an aquarium-style chest-high gas fireplace strewn with zen-like stones. Décor alone distinguishes Hana from our favorite Thai place, strip-mall neighbor Ruby of Siam, which simply nailed up some ethnic artifacts on the generic drywall. The boys loved their dragon roll (above), a sushi delicacy they've been waiting to eat again since our summer trip to DC. The beef and broccoli entree was several steps above a typical Chinese stir fry in a generic brown sauce. The beef was the most tender we've seen in ages, and the scallions and mushrooms rounded the dish off. The jalapeño tofu hit an ideal spicy note, but again, was a bit salty and was one of many misspellings on the menu. As a former menu designer, I'm saddened when a classy eatery like Hana slips menus into cheap plastic sleeves.

We were disappointed when this 2-day-old restaurant wouldn't accommodate our kids' special request for shrimp tempura. It didn't seem like a good way to build a loyal following.
Our chosen substitute, honey-sesame shrimp, was extremely sweet and a big hit with the boys, already stuffed from potstickers, vegetable tempura and spinach gomae. Kim had a problem with the shrimp dish in that she found several small pieces of hard, crystalized honey in her food, but no one else at the table had this problem. She's just lucky that way sometimes.

To apologize for the problem with the dish, the waiter offered us free dessert. I was alone in liking the green tea ice cream encased in rice flour cake, but I'm lactose intolerant, so it went largely uneaten. Kim said the green tea ice cream looked the food she prepared for the silkworms she raised two years ago for Pikachu's science fair project.

Our water glasses were constantly replenished. The floors, silverware and dishes were un-chipped. The bathrooms were clean and upscale as the front of the house. The boys were intrigued by the sink, a stand-alone metal basin (like a basket); the metal faucet looks like a hand pump with a bamboo chute to channel water. Kim notes a baby changing station is about to be installed in the ladies' room. The hand-cut cucumber, carrot and lemon garnishes (above with fresh potsticker) intrigued the boys and kept the plates interesting. The fusion bistro seems out of place in an run-of-the-mill strip mall. But Tyler Cowen in Discover Your Inner Economist (if you liked Freakonomics, check this out) argues that food sold away from bustling city centers offers a better value because what the owner saves on rent is often spent on better ingredients and chef's wages. Point well made.

Though we experienced a few bumps, we understand it's a brand-new establishment and Ray and his staff are working out the kinks. We are definitely taking to the road to Hana next time our Asian cravings strike, which should be in about a week.

Nob Hill, the NRA and the whole shmear: A guest post by DH

Some foods are designed to be relished slowly in an elegant setting; others gulped thoughtlessly in passing. Though not card-carrying members of the slow food movement, Kim and I appreciate the allure of a meal that is sensuous rather than just plentiful, luxurious rather than convenient. It’s rare that we dine without the boys, but there were two recent occasions on which we did.

One was during an adults-only Vegas trip last spring. The other was on a school day the following month when we dashed and gulped our way through McCormick Place for the last day of the NRA’s Restaurant Show (no, the other NRA; restaurants, not rifles) and the first day of the All Candy Expo (which wasn’t all candy at all. There were plenty of chips, nuts and cookies to boot).

In March, we spent nearly three hours at Nob Hill at the MGM Grand, savoring the privacy of a walled-in booth and the ministrations of an attentive, knowledgeable waiter who humored us with his unpatronizing patience as we commented and inquired about the menus, the food preparation, the serving style and even the cutlery and plates. Top it off with Kim shooting unending photographs of the exquisitely prepared dishes, thinking that without pictures, the kids would never believe how nice it was. (They did believe it. They just didn’t care.)
Nob Hill seemed the sort of place where you wouldn’t take kids. There’s nothing salacious going on; what happened in Vegas can certainly be told elsewhere. Just small portions of expensive food that would have shocked—shocked, I say—our children. Especially Smartypants, who sometimes can’t believe how much grown-ups spend on things.

To be fair, he often orders from the adult menu, daring to venture slightly out of his comfort zone with exotic foods like, well, er, salmon. Pikachu remains comfortably in the kids’ menu realm with grilled cheese being his top choice. For both boys, the critical elements of any meal are, bring it fast, give me plenty and finish with dessert. Oh, and the price be damned! (Except when Smartypants checks out the seafood prices.)

Much to our surprise, the table next to us brought their toddler and his older brother, who seemed to spoil the meal for their parents (and nanny), but provided us a conversation point during our stay (Three hours at a restaurant seems more like a stay than a meal) and nicely contrasted the civility and grown-uppedness of our own cloistered table.

As surprised as we were to see kids at Nob Hill, we were even more shocked (shocked, I say) to find so many children—infants through teenagers—strolling around Las Vegas at all. What with the seedy hawkers trying to stuff our hands with brochures offering escorts to your hotel room (if you’re just staying in your room, where do you need to be escorted?) and the bawdy T-shirts and, well, the whole Vegasness of it all. I guess some folks aren’t as lucky to have grandparents to watch their kids for a week.

The Restaurant Show and the Candy Expo are the sorts of places where children ought to be (and are) excluded. It’s tough enough for adults to exert self-control and politely decline the hundreds of samples being purveyed by a few thousand exhibitors. No doubt, our children would take the opportunity to horde the goods. Oh wait, click here for Kim’s confession from last year’s Candy Expo.

Anyway, in the non-junk-food side of the convention center, we found countless variations on barista drinks and fried whatnots (meat, potatoes, breads, snack foods. Anything can be fried nowadays, and there’s a specialty machine for everything). This year offered few truly innovative foods, but a couple of sophisticated gizmos and doodads caught our eyes. One fave was the anti-stove. Instead of heating a griddle to cook foods, this air-conditioned unit chilled the griddle cold enough so liquid chocolate squirted onto sticks quickly solidified into fresh lollipops.
What struck me about both shows was both the abundance of corn-syrup-derived or breaded and fried grub, as well as the ease of obtaining and swallowing it. It’s a classic convention hall move to walk about looking interested in the product, reach out a hand, grab a goodie and BOOM, you’ve got food. Sometimes the vendors want to chat. Usually they let you eat and run. A person lacking self-restraint could easily eat a week’s worth of calories in the space of a few blocks.

Nob Hill, by contrast, is a joint where our waiter, Jaime, wiped the excess sauce from the rim of the plates before carefully setting them in front of us, rotating them just so, to orient them in the most optimal feng shui manner. Each course sat on a different colored or shaped plate and Jaime replaced our silverware between courses—emphasizing the luxury and the uniqueness of each dish. None of the courses, alas, were served on fire, as is my preferred serving style, but the lobster pot pie was cooked en croute steaming itself in its pastry shell before waiter Jaime carved it out of the casserole bowl as if shucking an oyster and gently placing it down on the dish. Hands down, this was the most memorable course in terms of just enjoying the show that is Nob Hill.

By contrast, my favorite corn-based item at the Candy show was caramel corn molded into the shape of an ear of corn, served in a plastic wrapper. For caramel corn fanciers on the go (and what caramel corn fancier would pour the snack onto a ceramic plate and spend three hours consuming it), it’s easy to hold it by the wrapper, give the bottom a smack and send the pointed top bursting through the seam of the package. That way the hands remain unsticky while the carm-corn fan nibbles on the sweet snack and ambles about looking, perhaps, for a plate of hot wings or ribs.

After finding the wings, how does one avoid getting one’s still-clean fingers all messy with sauce? Well, with a trong or two (they’re like chopsticks on steroids) one puts ones pointer and middle fingers into flexible plastic grippers with which greasy, saucy morsels can be lifted without fear of soiling said digits.

“Honestly,” I confronted the vendor, “What man with any sense of manly pride would eat food this way in front of his manly friends?” But he insisted that many passers-by showed interest in the product and that the product is economical enough (and can be customized with the restaurant name) to do well in the marketplace.

What happens, though, if despite the plastic caramel corn wrapper and the wing tongs, one still gets sticky fingers? Imagine a device where both hands (to the wrists) are inserted into holes a box and get the equivalent of a touch-free car wash! Yes, without having to touch a bacteria-laden soap dispenser or a grimy faucet, this device sprays antibacterial soap and water all around both hands as the user holds them in place and enjoys a brief bath. Meritech’s automated hand washing stations take about 30 seconds for a complete cleansing, after which—if you’re lucky—you can move over to one of those high-speed touchless hand driers for a completely hygienic after-meal cleanup.

On that note, if Nob Hill’s service lacked one amenity, perhaps it would be that I had to wash my hands all by myself.

I got a Brazilian!

SushiSamba Rio
504 N Wells, Chicago
312-595-2300

I got a Brazilian dish, French Toast and so much more at SushiSamba Rio, a Japanese/Brazilian/Peruvian fusion restaurant.


SushiSamba is one happening place. They’ve got a little something for everyone- a rooftop lounge for the hipsters, unique “Sushi and Sake” classes for the foodies, and late night dance parties with DJs and musicians pumping out Latin-inspired beats along with samba and capoeira performances for those who like to get their groove on. From the food to the music to the décor, everything about this place is cool. So, um, what were we doing there? This is not a place you might think to bring kids, let alone expect them to be invited along on a little press junket. But they were and, you might want to bring your children there, too.

SushiSamba’s Sunday Brunch provides a nice change from the local pancake house. They offer a menu that will please every member of the family. For $15 per adult and $8 per child under 12, you choose from several tasty items to create your meal.

On our visit, we sampled almost every brunch item while chatting with Joanna, a PR representative from the restaurant who you may have seen on Check, Please!

Even though the brunch menu is filled with continental cuisine ("stuff your kids will eat"), SushiSamba adds a little twist. For example, the rich Eggs Benedict (pictured) is flavored with a Hollandaise sauce made with the mild Peruvian aji panca chile pepper and trades ham for smoked salmon. The smoked salmon was also featured in Sunday Samba Roll along with cream cheese and cucumber. We slap this stuff on a bagel; they artfully tuck it into a seaweed wrapper.

I’m not sure if I’ve lost you or your kids here, but my boys ate these unique items up. Even though they also filled their bellies with scrambled eggs and steak, they managed to find room for the melt-in-your-mouth-delicious Doce de Leite French Toast, and a taste of everything on the Smoked Fish Platter-white fish, salmon, trout and bagel chips.

It’s only as I write this out that I realize how much food we ate in one sitting, because that wasn’t all. The boys, DH and I also sampled the Carmen Miranda, a fresh fruit platter with granola and yogurt flavored with yuzu, a tart Japanese citrus fruit, as well as hot, sugar-coated Brazilian Churros served with Peruvian chocolate and caramel dipping sauces.

Happy and full as we were, we begged our hostess to let us try Feijoada (fesh-wada) ($13), a Brazilian specialty. It’s not part of the continental brunch, but it can be ordered and served family style. She demurred, so we loosened our belts a notch and tasted the traditional stew of black bean, shredded pork, seared beef and carne seca accompanied by white rice, collard greens, and farofa (a toasted flour, somewhat like cornmeal). DH could have made a meal out of this, but though the boys and I liked it, we were glad we got to sample the other foods.

The boys loved the Batidas, frothy Brazilian smoothies made with condensed milk instead of yogurt ($7). And they enjoyed choosing flavor combos for the custom blended drinks, which are large enough for two or thee young children to share. Their favorite was pineapple-orange-banana.

At SushiSamba you can go Brazilian or enjoy fresh sushi and one of the world’s largest selections of sake, Japanese rice wine. In fact, Joanna told us that in Japan sake is now considered an old man’s drink. Sake companies flock to SushiSamba to film commercials featuring hip young Americans drinking it in order to sell the beverage to Japanese young adults.

Sake. Batidas. Brazilian, Japanese. Fusion cuisine. Family brunch. They have something for everyone, except the wee ones in diapers, that is. There are no changing facilities. Which answers that eternal question: can a place be hip and offer diaper-changing facilities? Apparently not. Still, the bathrooms are a thing to behold. Not quite Ally McBeal, not quite a hall of mirrors, definitely something to see for yourself.

SushiSamba provides valet parking for $12, but there’s also a self-park garage a block away. If you’re lucky, you might find street parking.


Above: me taking a picture of Splinter washing his hands in the men's room on the other side of a glass divider.

Your kids will have fun washing up before the meal.

Soon you’ll swoon over El Sueño: A Scrambled CAKE restaurant review

El Sueño

9850 Milwaukee Avenue, Glenview
(847) 298-9090

Don’t be fooled by the drab exterior. Here are ten reasons El Sueño will leave you swooning. If you have any remaining doubts after reading this, click over to the Scrambled CAKE photo album at Chicago Parent.

1. They just opened this spring and their reputation is growing quickly. Hurry in soon while you can still get seated without a wait. This place is going to draw crowds.

2. Freshly made salsa. ¡Bueno!

3. Easy on the wallet. Every item on the menu is under $15.00 and the portions are huge. Our family of four could have enjoyed a filling meal with about half of the amount of food we ordered. Fortunately, the veggie burrito makes an excellent breakfast (even cold, but shhhh…I could lose my food writer credentials for admitting to enjoying cold leftover burritos).

4. Did someone say veggie burrito? They offer a special vegetarian menu.

5. Your meal includes a cup of bean soup (made with bacon). “Great soup,” says nine year-old, Smartypants.

6. See number 3. The affordable food means you’ll have a few pesos to spend on a margarita or three.

7. Their innovative menu features traditional Mexican foods with a modern twist, such as pumpkin tamales and duck tacos. Traditionalists can enjoy El Sueño's authentic Mexican breakfast buffet on weekend mornings.

8. Kids meals are $3.95. Options are a chicken or cheese flauta, quesadilla (Mexican grilled cheese, made with tortilla instead of bread), or for the child with absolutely no sense of adventure, chicken nuggets.

9. The kids have gulped down their food, but you are just starting to savor the fiesta of flavors in yours. No need to let them ruin your meal, simply send them to the mini-kids theater in the back of the restaurant where they can watch cartoons until bedtime. You can keep an eye on them from your table thanks to windows conveniently built into the theatre room wall.

10. Great service; our waitress was very attentive and patient.

A few cautionary notes:
* There are no baby-changing facilities.
* Bring your Lactaid and Beano. Seriously, your family will thank you.

If there is a wait because by the time you actually make it out to Glenview the place is wildly popular and you’ve got a hungry child with you who doesn’t have a deadly sesame allergy, head next door to Pita Inn for some good and also inexpensive Mediterranean food.

Batter up! Pimp your pancakes at Flat Top Grill: a restaurant review

Flat Top Grill
Reviewed: Lakeview Location
3200 N. Southport Ave.
Phone: 773.665.8100

Maybe you’ve enjoyed Flat Top Grill’s design-your-own stir-fry for lunch or dinner, but now they serve breakfast, too. We were invited to give it a try, so with empty bellies and unkempt hair we headed to their Lakeview location. Adults can eat to their heart’s content for a mere $8.99. It’s only $4.99 including milk or juice for kids ages 4-11, and kids under 4 eat free. Such a deal!

The buffet at the Lakeview location was loaded with mini muffins and fresh fruit with a steaming pot of oatmeal at the ready. But the real excitement here is the choose-your-own-fixins section. In the mood for a healthy veggie and tofu-skin egg white omelette? They’ve got you covered. The kid wants a gummy worm and strawberry pancake? No problem. (Until he actually tastes it, that is).

Our waitress offered helpful, but seemingly complicated instructions given that it was 9:00 Saturday morning and we hadn’t yet started our coffee. Smartypants simplified the concept for me. “It’s like Cold Stone Creamery, but for pancakes instead of ice cream.” I was relieved to find that the process was pretty simple once we stepped up to the self-serve area.

Serve Yourself
First, we loaded up a plate with fresh fruit and returned it to the table so we’d have something to nibble while waiting for our first of several courses. Then we headed back with a mission to help the boys create breakfast combos as unique as their personalities. It’s a given that this involved gummy worms. Splinter balanced his intake of worms with chocolate chips, while Smartypants chose a berry complement (pictured here).

Like my husband, the Flat Top Grill cooks are not very good at reading minds, so after filling our bowls, we chose the appropriate swizzle stick to mark our meal: yellow stick for an omelette, pink for pancake, green for a side of potatoes, etc.

But Let Them Cook

Perhaps because the coffee hadn’t quite kicked in we didn’t realize that the final size of our items, be they pancakes, scrambled eggs or omelettes, would be relative to the amount of fixings we chose. Therefore, we all wound up with HUGE first servings.

Pace yourself, or ask the cook to downsize despite your add-ins, because you definitely want to leave room for an order of French Toast. They use thick Texas toast finished off with cinnamon and powdered sugar and a week’s ration of butter plus your selected toppings. Mmmmm.

The pancakes were also quite tasty--except for the portions with melted gummy worm. Who knew? The omelettes, while hot and satisfying, were not the most delicate examples of that dish.

Entertainment

There’s no official entertainment, but a toddler will delight in watching the cooks do their thing. And then there are the unlimited trips to the buffet….

Bottom line

Flat Top Grill is worth a try whether you’re a regular breakfast out family or just looking to avoid cooking or cleaning up after your first meal of the day. And for only $8.99 it’s easy to feel like you got your money’s worth without going overboard. Even so, it is an all-you-can-eat meal, so play it safe and wear your ‘fat pants’.

Know before you go:
All locations have high chairs and booster seats, but not all have diaper-changing; call before you go, or should I say before your little one goes?

We managed no-hassle street parking in Lakeview due to our early arrival, but we'd love for their Evanston location to fire up the grill for breakfast.

Cereality Cereal Bar and Cafe

Cereality Cereal Bar and Café
1622 Sherman Avenue, Evanston
847-864-4400
(Also in Chicago at Wacker and Monroe)

Cereal combos $3.00-$5.00

Imagine heading to 31 Flavors for ice cream only to find they’ve replaced the frozen treats with cereal. That’s Cereality. You get a choice of over 30 cereals (sorry, Smartypants, no Alphabits) as well as a variety of mix-ins and toppings to choose from. They offer dried and fresh fruit, and nuts in addition to melt-your-teeth options that will leave your kids drooling-- candy-coated chocolates, caramel syrup, mini-marshmallows, coconut flakes, pop rocks, and more.

“It feels like you’re at a friend’s house on a playdate,” observed eight-year-old Smartypants. The breezy, casual atmosphere features pajama-clad employees, cool lighting, homey tables, and a cozy lounging area with couches and comfy chairs. Cereality offers wi-fi and two large TVs showing a steady stream of cartoons.

“You don’t have to get all dressed up to go here, but you should still use manners and stuff,” added Smartypants.

Our seven-year-old dining companion, The Virtuoso, agreed. “Yeah, you don’t have to do things like you would at a fancy restaurant, like use a coat hanger, and you don’t have to wear nice clothes, but you still should have good etiquette. And you get to eat while you’re watching TV which you can’t do at a formal restaurant.”

While watching typical Saturday morning fare, you’ll eat a basic serving of two scoops of cereal, one topping, and milk for $3.99. (They also have a small serving consisting of one scoop at one topping for $2.99.) They offer some suggested combos, but you can mix and match as you please.

The cereal is served in stylized Chinese take-out boxes that you fill with your choice of milk- whole, 2%, or skim, with lactose-free and soy milk available upon request. The milk is self-serve which is a bit tricky for the kids. Ask for a cup for the milk, otherwise, you risk adding too much, something that can easily ruin this treat the entire experience.

They also serve smoothies, called Slurrealities. I’m not sure which marketing genius named the drinks after “a watery mixture of insoluble matter (as mud, lime, or plaster of Paris),” but the actual ingredients sound a bit more pleasing to the palate. Take the Bran New Day featuring strawberries, bananas, and orange juice with low-fat yogurt and Quaker Bran. Cereal bars, yogurt-cereal parfaits, and hot beverages including coffee and flavored steamed milk are also on the menu.

When we stopped in for a late morning snack, I had the Bowlful of Cavities the Devil Made Me Do It - Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms plus chocolate drizzles and malted milk balls. (pictured) DH had the more sensible oatmeal with apples and almonds. Snuggable six-year-old Splinter, had Rice Krispies with malted milk balls, Smartypants had Lucky Charms with mini-marshmallows, The Virtuoso, had Cheerios with both topping and milk on the side.

Virtuoso said his cereal tasted like the Cheerios he eats at home, but maybe a bit stronger. “It’s hard to explain, but it has more of a full taste, which is a good thing.” Especially since one bowl costs as much as an entire box from the supermarket.

Cereality also sells Sloops™ for about $1.00 a piece. Once your kids get a glimpse of these reusable plastic spoons with built-in straws, they must have one, so plan accordingly.

Cereality’s target demographic is college students who are either feeling nostalgic or have some serious munchies. DH and I felt like it was fun to visit, but we wouldn’t go out of our way to return. They have a diaper changing facility in one of their large unisex bathrooms, so Cereality might be a nice coffee shop alternative—a place to meet some mom-friends while the wee ones color at the tot table, play, or cause a ruckus. Be discreet so you don’t get busted for bringing your own little baggy of Cheerios.

Our young review team gave Cereality a rating of 3 out of a possible 4 Sloops™. The kids welcome the chance to dine at Cereality again. “It’s a good place to come when you have people who like different kinds of cereal.” Ah yes, that old problem.

If someone in your family has a serious cereal jones, plan a weekend getaway to nearby Battle Creek Michigan home to Kellogg’s Cereal City edutainment complex. And while you’re there, stop in at Binder Park Zoo, where you can hand feed giraffes in the morning and then visit the old planes at the nearby Kalamazoo Air Zoo in the afternoon.