Maui puts heart and soul into menu
A Kapiti 9-year-old saw his father creating a menu for his restaurant, so he thought he would do the same.
Maui Passerello created the children’s menus at Waimea Restaurant, owned by his father Michele, in Waikanae.
Maui’s menu adheres to the Heart Foundation Kids’ Choice programme, which supports food services to provide healthier children’s menus.
Maui came up with the idea as he watched his father rejig the regular menu.
‘‘[I thought] maybe I could add a few more things, so kids could have more healthy choices,’’ he said.
He started by noting the items from the old menu that could stay, before he approached a few of his Year 5 classmates at Kapiti Primary School to see what they liked.
‘‘Most choices were not healthy, like Coco Pops, NutriGrain and Weet-Bix.’’
Michele said his son had been immersed in food since he started at Waimea in 2012, and before that when he started cooking him food to take to kindergarten.
‘‘He was coming here all the time. He knew a lot about food.’’
Michele said there were not many restaurants that had healthy kids’ menus, and parents needed to think more about healthy options.
‘‘I believe in New Zealand we are a little bit behind with some healthy options for kids.
‘‘It’s really good for him [Maui] to think about good food, and choosing good ingredients.’’
Heart Foundation food service adviser Asher Regan said he had never seen a child have such a hands-on role in creating a chil- dren’s menu.
Regan said not much time was spent on kids’ menus around the country, however attitudes were slowly changing.
‘‘Anecdotally 90 per cent of [kids’] menus have mostly deepfried options on them ... nuggets, fries, hot dogs and fish and chips,’’ he said.
‘‘At the moment I think a lot of restaurants see kids as secondary.
FOR THE KIDS
Some of the choices.
Grilled steak, grilled potatoes, beetroot, lettuce and tomato
Pasta and meatballs, peas, pomodoro sauce, parmesan
Grilled fish, grilled potatoes, green beans, yoghurt dressing
Roast chicken risotto, peas, parmesan
The menu also includes traditional deep-fried fish and chips, with salad and tomato sauce, as a less healthy option. Adults are their main customers.
‘‘They’re going to grow up into adults and eat out when they’re older.
‘‘They need to learn what good food is all about.’’