Dining with kids in tow is not for the faint of heart, as many parents will attest. But starting this month, the chefs in TRIO at Four Seasons Hotel Austin are making meals enjoyable for diners of all ages with a creative new offering.  Call them a “happy meal” for moms and dads, new KidsBites are automatically brought to the table for children ages two through nine during lunch and dinner service in TRIO. Placed in front of each diminutive diner as soon as they sit down, the complimentary bite-sized treats provide kids with a fun, healthy snack, and parents with a few blessedly uninterrupted minutes of calm and quiet to contemplate the menu.

“When my wife and I attempt to dine out as a family, usually our kids are already so wound up when we arrive we’re praying the food hits the table fast,” says TRIO General Manager Jeff Haber, the father of five-year-old twins. “That’s the beauty of our new KidsBites, the kids love them but secretly it’s all about the parents.”

Not your average appetizers, KidsBites come in eight different versions – served on a rotating schedule to ensure no overlap during the Hotel stay – with each dish inspired by a classic children’s book or rhyme.

This creative twist is represented both in the plate design and the item itself. For example, the Itsy Bitsy Spider KidsBite is a mini-pretzel roll sandwich with cucumber “legs” and googly cheese eyes served on a plate printed with the words from the well-known rhyme. The Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star snack features a colourful sketch of a smiling star, topped with three melon stars on a wooden spear with a cucumber base. Other KidsBites play off of popular stories including Humpty Dumpty, Three Blind Mice and Winnie the Pooh.

With such a fun upscale dining option now available for kids and parents it’s not difficult to predict the end to this story: indeed, they all ate happily ever after.