Remembering Baby's First Restaurant Meal at Mondo Italian Kitchen

In just two days, Malachi will be 11 months old! We’ll officially be in the last month of baby’s first year. It’s unbelievable.

The other night, Danny and I sat in bed looking at pictures and video of Malachi as he slept in the next room, comparing where he is now in his development to where we started with our small, one-month early baby. It was a precious moment that made us laugh at ourselves. You would have thought we were parents getting ready to send our child off to college the way we were fawning over the photos.

As the time passes swiftly between my fingers, I find myself grasping to hold on to all the many memorable milestones of this first year.

Malachi went on his first restaurant outing when he was almost 4 months old, and he did okay. But it wasn’t until he was 8 months that he had his first restaurant meal.

It was a cold day in December, and to avoid the Saturday evening dinner crowd, we ventured out around mid-afternoon. Danny had surprised me with the plans and it was a welcomed surprised since during the week we were both busy because of the holiday rush.

The first restaurant we went to was also an Italian restaurant, they were open for catering pick-up orders but not for dining in. When we arrived it was 4p and when we walked in we didn’t understand why it was so quiet. Apparently dining in did not open until 5p. Still, the initial interaction we had with the staff who was present definitely turned us off, and we decided based on that interaction that it was not worth waiting an hour, at least not that day.

Danny turned to yelp and found Mondo Italian Kitchen.

When we arrived at Mondo, it was about 4:15p and they did not officially open until 4:30p. The door was open, so Danny went in and spoke with the staff. They invited us to come in from the cold right away!

The restaurant has a charming setting that features black and white photos of the Italian old country, Edison lights, wooden barn doors and medium chalkboard menu specials.

From the moment the three of us walked in the Mondo staff was extremely welcoming and accommodating. They seated us, gave us a high chair for Malachi, and let us look at the menu and kindly explained that while we could order, our orders wouldn’t go in until the kitchen officially opened at 4:30p.

Since Malachi started eating solid food we’ve been very intentional about giving him fresh, organic food. So even though Mondo’s initial customer service was impressive and the setting was simple yet elegant, we were curious about the food. The outing was just as much about Malachi having his first meal at a restaurant, as it was about us getting to enjoy one of our favorite types of food. Food quality would be the major deciding factor.

Any apprehension we may have had was immediately put to rest when we tried the sautéed spinach and spaghetti we ordered for Malachi. The spinach was absolutely delicious, you could taste how fresh it was! And the spaghetti sauce too!

Malachi devoured the spaghetti. For a while after visiting Mondo, we were convinced that pasta was Malachi’s favorite solid food. Turns out the child loves food.

I was torn between the Zughetti Verdura and the Farfalle Alla Vodka Sauce in the end I went with the Farfalle with Shrimp and it was perfect. Danny ordered the Creamy Carbonara with Shrimp and no pancetta.

We had the place to ourselves for the majority of the meal. People started to trickle in around 5:20pm.

It was a delightful experience for Malachi’s first restaurant meal, from the customer service to the fresh, made-to-order food. It’s hard to imagine it possibly going any better than it did.

I hope I’ve put you in the mood for some made-from-scratch Italian food, I know I could go for that right now.

#HungryInRealLife. LOL.

Cheers to teaching the next generation about what it means to eat good food.