Patrice Poltzer Opens The Door To Kid-Friendly Restaurants
Through 'first bites'
Let’s get REAL for a moment, shall we. Before motherhood, eating out was an absolute highlight in our mundane routines. Whether grabbing sushi with a friend at a local eatery or landing a highly coveted reservation at a swanky, new spot with hubby, “eating out” delivered in fun, satiation, and inexplicable fulfillment.
Then came “baby," followed by a new revelation.
Eating out wasn’t as much fun any more. In fact, at certain moments in you and your child’s life together, it was downright distasteful and hardly worth the effort.
For some, during these times, “ordering in” became the soup du jour. What it lacked in the much needed relief it provided for those desperate to “get out of the house,” it made up for in ease and comfort, with not so much as a jitter from the only onlooker in the room -- the dog! For others, however, dining out was a luxury they dare not give up.
Patrice Poltzer found herself sitting, boldly, in the camp of the latter upon giving birth to her first child. Discontent with becoming a “shut in” at the hands of her precious little bundle, savvy Patrice savored the opportunity to solve her, and countless other parents', issue by launching a highly creative and helpful blog called first bites.
Implementing a Yelp-like rating system, Patrice devised her blog to maximize joy and minimize regret when feeding your kids at someone else’s table. Brilliant and enormously resourceful, first bites is a “must” read, especially for all those parents who can barely remember what it is like to leave a table without wiping it down or mopping the floor around it.
Suffice-it-to-say, you needn't have any reservations in taking the time to get to know more about Patrice Poltzer and first bites below. I assure you, everything on the menu will serve you well.
What is your personal mantra?
“What’s the worst that can happen?” I repeat this question to myself every time I am trying something new or taking a risk. It, especially, works well when venturing into a new restaurant.
Finish this sentence, “I like to eat out because..."
Because I enjoy “new” -- new restaurants, new foods, new atmosphere, new moments with friends and family. These experiences can’t be replaced.
How many nights a week do you eat out regularly?
On average, we eat out twice a week.
Do you cook?
I do cook and enjoy it when I do. Cooking definitely has grown on me.
What do you look for in a dining-out experience with your child?
Being seven months pregnant, currently, and the mom to a toddler as well, I look for more casual places that cater to kids. If the places I go have crayons and a kid’s menus, it’s a big score for me as are places with minimal noise restrictions. Let’s face it, toddlers are busy creatures. Diners tend to be, especially, conducive to young families like mine.
Share with us the name of one restaurant you just can’t live without.
Hill Country Barbecue. It’s kid friendly and great for adults too, especially when friends are in the mix for the evening.
When did you launch your blog, first bites?
Truthfully, I stumbled into the whole thing. first bites began as an Instagram account in 2013. It was the comments I was receiving on the photos I was posting that transitioned this endeavor into a full-fledged blog. I began taking it seriously in Spring 2014.
Share your motivation behind launching the blog.
My motivation was two-fold. I feel satisfaction and fulfillment in helping others and I saw a need. Plain and simple.
What are you looking to gain from first bites?
Quite unexpectedly, I’ve learned a heck of a lot about entrepreneurship from my blog.
How active a blogger are you?
It is tough as I am also a full-time producer for the Today Show (NBC). So I juggle. I’m as active a blogger as I can be, presently.
Are your long term goals for first bites to grow it into a full-time business?
Yes.
What is the largest challenge you have faced in growing first bites?
Finding the right balance between work, family, and blogging. I’m sure this struggle sounds familiar to many moms.
Share your most memorable dining nightmare.
Let me just say that I became all-too-human towards my husband one evening when he fell ill during a much needed evening out at a restaurant we had both been waiting to go to for months. As karma would have it, I too became sick the very next day. I ended up feeling terrible, twice-over, for the obvious reasons.
Please share a social cause or cause-based organization you support or are involved in.
The refugee crisis. I recently traveled to Greece with a group of moms, where we passed out baby carriers to those in need. Carry The Future and Operation Refugee Child are two causes that have become quite important to me. When you become a mom, you realize just how much of the world is suffering. You connect with the larger purpose and seek to fulfill it.
When all is said and done, how would you like to be remembered?
For making a difference. As someone who really lived life. A nice person. A good mom.
They say that “necessity is the mother of invention.” Patrice Poltzer has certainly shown this to be true through her creation of first bites. Needless-to-say, her incredible good taste in providing this invaluable service for the rest of us deserves an enormous tip. I encourage you to give her one by making first bites “first choice” in your regular 'reading' diets.
I guess you just received a great tip too!
Patrice and son, Jenson