Baby Friendly Restaurants NYC: Ofrenda, Kanoyama, Spasso, Joseph Leonard

Roasted Sole at Ofrenda

Boy, it's been a while since I've posted. But I have a pretty good excuse: a handsome, strapping newborn named Ian. He doesn't like to sleep, but just like his mama, he does love to eat! I can't wait until he's old enough for me to introduce him to all the amazing food that we're fortunate to have around us in NYC... like the delicious briny oysters and raw goats milk cheeses Justin and I had at Joseph Leonard one fine, recent spring day. The sun was streaming in through the open windows, the air was sweet despite the restaurant's location on a busy triangle intersection. There was a new, delicious cocktail list for spring and Ian, most magically of all, was asleep in his Moby wrap. It was perfect....

And it was an incredibly rare occurrence. Like a lot of new parents, I haven't been getting out to restaurants much -- much less finding the time to write about them. We've only eaten at a handful since Ian was born and somehow, I either forgot to take pictures -- in between juggling Ian, feeding him (we breastfeed discretely under a cover), trying to eat a few bites of food and enjoying this rare time with my husband -- or I waited too long to write up the meals and my taste memories became stale. 

On the other hand, we have been making up for it by cooking at home a lot. A LOT. I have Moroccan chicken, cider-glazed pork chop, quinoa pilaf, and carrot dill soup non-recipes I have to recipe-fy for you someday. They are fabulous and fabulously easy for those with little time... and little sleep! 

I thought long and hard about what I wanted to come back from my blogging hiatus with. A restaurant review? A recipe? In the end, I decided to write up a brief summary of a few baby friendly restaurants we've been to so far, since baby-friendliness in general has clearly been on my mind. I'm introducing a new "Baby Friendly" tag, which will hopefully help other parents searching for good eats in NYC, with tykes in tow. Just click on "Baby Friendly" on the left hand bar for other reviews of restaurants thus tagged.

To be clear, the following grades are for baby-friendliness and not for the quality of the food, though I discuss the latter, too -- of course. =)