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„ More on feeding your family at seattleschild.com Right underyour nose! Your cookie is ready for takeoff At Water’s Table restaurant in Renton, kids get a raw, „ Find family-friendly food on the Seattle’s Child app » seattleschild.com/app airplane-shaped sugar cookie (a nod to the restaurant’s neighbor, Boeing) to decorate with sprinkles and white or chocolate chips at the beginning of the meal. The cookie bakes while you eat and is brought back to your table in time for dessert!

Water’s Table, located in Hyatt Regency Lake Washington, 1053 Lake Washington Blvd. N, Renton

Eating with kids

Aaron Smith brings new ideas to Seattle school cafeterias.

Cafeteria culture

Seattle Public Schools’ new director of nutrition services aims to serve every taste bud

by JACKIE VARRIANO / photo by JOSHUA HUSTON

As you scratch supplies off of your back-toschool shopping list,

there’s one item Aaron Smith hopes you won’t buy: a lunch box. This September, Smith is entering his first full school year as Nutrition Services Director for Seattle Public Schools. When he moved from Chicago to take the position last November, he brought his innovative ideas with him.

First up, Seattle schools will no longer have the same menu across the board:

“I’m working on breaking Seattle up into five regions, and as the year goes on and as we get feedback from those areas, we’re going to slowly start customizing and adding to the menu based on those students.”

This approach takes into consideration the taste buds

For ravenous readers Kid-friendly cookbooks

Looking to get into the kitchen with your kid in a contemporary way? We asked Book Larder’s Lara Hamilton for three great picks to get your kids inspired.

3Ottolenghi Simple: A Cookbook By Yotam Ottolenghi This book covers a wide range of styles but also has some nice, really simple everyday baking dishes: “Simple savory and also simple sweet things.” 3Dining In By Alison Roman Hamilton says her 12-year-old daughter loves picking things to make out of this book: “Her writing style and tone is just very fun.” Also, keep an eye out for Roman’s next book out in October, titled “Nothing Fancy.” 3Salt Fat Acid Heat By Samin Nosrat One for “kids who like to know the why’s behind things.” This book is for kids who are more patient readers. Bonus is the four-part miniseries on Netflix that serves as a visual companion to the book.

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«Chomp You’re of kids from a variety of cultural backgrounds, while leaving room to introduce new cuisines. CONTINUED invited! Get free kids meals “That will be their base menu, but we’ll add a second option that might be Asian, Somali or Ameriat over 50+ restaurants can, so that they’re exposed to and see something different.” every day of the Other changes include dropping the hot option at the elementary level from three to one; instead, daily options will include a sandwich, a yogurt combo, and one hot entrée with a cooked vegetable. “We want to have more of a complete meal, something you’d eat at home,” says Smith. I’m not a fan of that fast compartment tray, because you don’t eat off a tray at home, you eat off a plate.” A new item for that lunch is a smoked, sliced beef brisket served with a piece of corn on the cob. Smith says the district has also formed a relationship with Trident Seafoods to bring in wild Alaskan salmon and cod. They’re switching from highly processed chicken patties to a natural, whole muscle chicken sandwich like something from the restaurant chain Chickfil-A and dropping boneless wings for a bone-in variety. “I don’t believe in boneless wings. Chickens have bones,” Smith says with a laugh. Above all, Smith says he needs to listen to the students. He knows that “taste buds change” during the transitions from elementary to middle to high school. Though exciting, parents shouldn’t expect to see updated cafeteria options just yet. Creating a new menu and thoughtfully implementing changes in every Seattle school is a slow process. Distributors need a several-months-long lead time to procure and supply the new ingredients. “Starting out the school year, the menu will be similar to last year,” says Smith. “I didn’t know much about Seattle and Seattle culture, and just didn’t want to come in and make random changes without any data to support it.” “We’re testing out things and checking responses from students in the communities and trying to customize that menu; 53,000 students, not all of them eat hummus. Not all of them eat chicken. We need to find out the best way to support their needs.” AIRPLANE COOKIE, LITTLE CHEF: SHUTTERSTOCK