Buttermilk Channel

Photograph: Donna Rickles

Children’s menus can portend a pleasant dining experience for families, but rarely a stellar one. Ambitious Buttermilk Channel is an exception. The carefully curated, seasonal fare reminds you what skilled hands can do with top-notch ingredients. This is apparent from your first bite of the slightly sweet, slightly salty popovers brought to the table in lieu of bread soon after you sit down; similarly, the delicata squash tart appetizer with house-made buttermilk ricotta is a creamy revelation. The attention to culinary detail extends even to the $10 children’s meal, which finishes with a Blue Marble mini-sundae.

After 7pm the place is mobbed, but for the two hours before that, you’ll have it to yourselves. The obliging staff won’t bat an eye at your picky eaters, or at those who can’t sit still. My five-year-old son ended up on a barstool for most of the meal, chatting with the bartender.—Amy Sirot

524 Court St at Huntington St, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn (718-852-8490, buttermilkchannelnyc.com). Average main course: $18.

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