In their first trimester, I went out to dinner with a couple at Red White + Bluezz in Pasadena. Obviously she skipped the wine and blue cheese, but lots of other meat and cheese options. Tonight we’re headed out to Saladang Song.

First of all, congratulations to you and your wife - how exciting!

I would like to suggest the Brentwood - great hamburgers, and definitely NOT kid friendly.

Keep us posted on everything!

Congrats! When I was pregnant I went to Cut and Hatfield’s, both of which are not baby friendly. Cut is mad expensive, but share dishes (esp. the potato tart) and you won’t be drinking much alcohol, so that helps. The sushi ban, you know, is just an American thing. NYT ran a good op-ed a few months ago about the irrationality of that rule. But it’s easy to feel like you’re totally endangering your child if you decide to partake.

After the initial shock of having a newborn wears off, you’ll be able to go out again for a little while, before bedtimes and routines become more set. We took advantage while our little one was portable.

Also, anything that’s dangerous is good to do now. Korean BBQ, really hot soups, and cauldrons of boiling tofu aren’t easy to eat when you’re holding a wiggly one. I’m going to Santouka next week, but it might be a complete disaster.

Congrats, and let me tell you that I know what you’ll be going through–my wife gave birth last June, and we haven’t really been to any really nice places since then, but we still go to some good restaurants, I’d say. Then again, we never really go to many of the places mentioned on here.

I’d echo what Jess said about dangerous places. My wife and I both love Gyu-Kaku, the grill-it-yourself Japanese place, but there’s no way we’d take our little girl to a place that has a flaming grill right in the middle of the table!

I’d say post-baby, think of places that have outdoor dining–usually more receptive to diners with babies. Or nice places that are not so formal–Tender Greens is good in that respect.

Those are some great tips Jess, I hadn’t even thought of the “danger factor”. If the recent activity in the womb is any indication, ours will be a wiggly one.

Evan- I can see Tender Greens being a frequent stop for us, there are a few places in that area that have some good patios.

steak bad! or at least stick to grass fed beef and i’d think ditto for dairy products unless they don’t use growth hormone. i might be a bit of an alarmist but you should read the “power steer” article by michael pollan and then decide if you want all that crap that goes into our beef to go into you+wife.

Andrea-
I wont get into a detailed discussion of food ethics and additives for two main reasons.

1) I am woefully undereducated on both sides of the issue (the consumer and the provider)
2) Blogs are not a healthy place for that type of discussion which should probably be done in a more face to face, interactive arena.

I skimmed the article that you referenced and others can read it here at Michael Pollan’s website.

I will even go one further, I read the book Beyond Beef by Jeremy Rifkin a few years back and didn’t eat a piece of red meat or have dairy for quite a while.

Since then, meat and dairy has snuck back into my diet in small portions. My wife has always limited her meat intake but has had a bit more meat cravings since the pregnancy. Even now, it’s only a couple of times a month that we have a steak, usually at a nice restaurant where the pedigree of the meat is touted.

There is a lot of crap that I would prefer not go into my body. My wife buys probably 80%+ of our produce at the Farmer’s Market from the organic or no spray farms. We don’t eat much processed food and are label readers for the types of chicken and fish we buy.

So that’s our very general food philosophy. We’re lucky enough to live in a city that has access to a wide variety of seasonal, relatively local ingredients. It’s a city that has a large number of chefs who care about the way their ingredients are grown and raised. Granted, not all restaurants are conscientious and the price of ingredients are more important. I also eat at those places because the food tastes good.

In response to your comment, you’re right, we should know about what goes into our body. I do try to educate myself and I fully admit that there are many decisions I make about what goes into my mouth that aren’t the absolute purest.

i’m sort of paranoid about eating red meat while pregnant. my doctor says i need to eat well done, but going somewhere like Cut and ordering a well done steak is sacrilege. is your wife still eating red meat?

You have to try Melograno in Hollywood! http://www.melogranohollywood.com

And one more thing–when you and you’re wife do go out to eat with the little one, order something you can easily eat with one hand, to keep that other hand free for baby-holding (which I’m doing as I type this right now (and no, I was not adept at typing with only one hand before, thank you)).