The Bargaining Table

To face her toughest critic, chef Michelle Bernstein of Miami's Cafe La Trova empowers her kid with choice

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Like many parents, my husband and I make little deals with our 11-year-old to entice him to try new flavors. If we introduce Zachary to something new and he takes at least two bites, he gets to choose a dish we all eat for dinner the following week. Even if this results in us eating fried chicken sandwiches, it’s worth it. Though he’ll try every vegetable and cheese, when it comes to proper meals, I wish he would allow himself to just close his eyes and savor the dish. He’s always been very particular, but when he finds something he loves, he loves it.

Zachy is a thin kid who burns a lot of calories, so I’ve always tried to get him to eat pasta. Gnocchi not only fulfills that need but is also deeply tied to my childhood. I’m half Argentine. When I was growing up, my family would eat gnocchi on Día de Ñoquis at the end of every month and put dollars under our plates for good fortune. I really wanted this to be a tradition in my own home of mixed cultures. Unfortunately, gnocchi was never a dish that met Zachy’s approval.

Then we visited chef Michael White’s Marea, an Italian seafood restaurant in New York City. I thought, Okay, if this kid is going to love gnocchi, it’ll be here. I ended up ordering three plates Zachy ate them so quickly. Back at home, though, I didn’t have the same luck. I’ve been making gnocchi since I was five. There I was thinking I was some skilled gnocchi maker, and this little kid was basically telling me that I suck.