A 12 year old dining alone is big news ? The NY Times must be having a slow day.

Also, if he's going to be a food critic, he's got to learn the basic rules: Be anonymous. Don't take notes at the table. Both of those ensure you'll get a picture of what the average customers gets at that restaurant.

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Thank you Megan. And, yes at 12 I would have been confident enough to take myself somewhere beyond a sandwich shop (thanks to parents who never acknowledged age as anything more than a number).

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My parents traveled frequently in my youth, and as one of four children, I was used to going out to dine once in while, sans parents. We certainly didn't make a production out of it, or try to stand out in any way, but we felt very grown up and always dressed for dinner. Our ages ranged from 8 to 15 at the time. On one of our more memorable dinners out, we went to a hotel which was, by our standards then "fancy." When we were eating, a girl came around with a bread board and offered us bread. When we grew up, there was NEVER a meal without a bread basket on the table, and we liked bakery bread. So, when we were each given a slice with a pair of tongs, and she went ahead to the next table, my 8 year other brother was offended. He said "Miss? Leave that bread here." She said "Pardon?" My brother tapped the table and said "The bread stays right here." She was so startled she just set it down and left it with him. He turned to us and said "What kind of a place is this, anyway? No bread basket is nuts." (Actually, I agreed with him then, and still do).

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There's actually a movement for this sort of thing: Free Range Kids.

http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/

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As a young man growing up in Chester County, PA, my culinary opportunities were limited to a lack of transportation. But, I was never allowed to order from a "children's menu", I was always challenged to try something new. When West Chester had their first Restaurant Festival, I was the one that insisted that we go, and that we try something from every booth. Eating out alone would have been no big shocker.

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This kid is in my grade (yes I am also 12). He was like a celebrity, but he was kind of embaressed about being a food critic when he was 12 I guess, because no one knew anything about this until the article came out.

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