NEW YORK —The booster seat set is a tough crowd to please, but Todd Birnbaum thinks he may have found a way to tap the potential of the finicky mom-and-baby market.
Birnbaum, chef and co-owner of 70-seat Pinch Pizza, a full-service Italian restaurant on Manhattan’s Upper West Side that specializes in pizza sold by the inch, has entered into a partnership with the owners of S’Mac, a concept specializing in gourmet mac-and-cheese dishes, to offer discerning palates, young and old, two of their favorite foods. —The booster seat set is a tough crowd to please, but Todd Birnbaum thinks he may have found a way to tap the potential of the finicky mom-and-baby market.
New York-based Ark Restaurant Group, which also operates in Washington, D.C.; Las Vegas; and Atlantic City, N.J., has taken an interest in the concept with an eye toward growing it. —The booster seat set is a tough crowd to please, but Todd Birnbaum thinks he may have found a way to tap the potential of the finicky mom-and-baby market.
“I think traditionally this is not a market people have run after because it can be a lower check average and a lot of work, but the world is about family, so if you can make families happy you’re going to have a good business,” Birnbaum said. —The booster seat set is a tough crowd to please, but Todd Birnbaum thinks he may have found a way to tap the potential of the finicky mom-and-baby market.
Pinch Pizza, which was located in lower Manhattan for four years before moving to its new location earlier this year, is now in a much more family-oriented neighborhood, Birnbaum said. He noted that families in the restaurant’s new area are wholeheartedly embracing it; adults are grateful for a place to relax with their peers while their kids play with their friends and toys. About 60 percent of his customer base is made up of young mothers with children, particularly between the hours of 12 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., he said. —The booster seat set is a tough crowd to please, but Todd Birnbaum thinks he may have found a way to tap the potential of the finicky mom-and-baby market.
The deal with S’Mac, which is owned and operated by Sarita and Caesar Ekya, means patrons have a broader array of menu items from which to choose. Pinch’s plain pizzas cost 55 cents per inch or 75 cents per inch with toppings. Items on the S’Mac menu range in price from $7.50 to $10.50 for individual portions, but can also be ordered to be shared by up to 12 people for as much as $45. The so-called nosh-size for children is $4.50. —The booster seat set is a tough crowd to please, but Todd Birnbaum thinks he may have found a way to tap the potential of the finicky mom-and-baby market.
“Oftentimes, we’ll see an order for 12 inches with the first 4 inches plain and the next 8 inches topped with goat cheese and mushrooms,” Birnbaum said. “You know, most people with children find it tough sometimes to go out and have a quality meal. They want to have fresh food cooked to order, but if something spills on the floor it won’t be a big deal.” —The booster seat set is a tough crowd to please, but Todd Birnbaum thinks he may have found a way to tap the potential of the finicky mom-and-baby market.
He added that at Pinch “kids can eat like kids and adults can eat like adults—side by side. What could be better?” —The booster seat set is a tough crowd to please, but Todd Birnbaum thinks he may have found a way to tap the potential of the finicky mom-and-baby market.
The interior also has been designed to accommodate strollers and other baby accoutrements, Birnbaum said. —The booster seat set is a tough crowd to please, but Todd Birnbaum thinks he may have found a way to tap the potential of the finicky mom-and-baby market.
“We definitely spaced the tables out well,” he said. “Where once there were three rows of tables there now are two, the berths are wider and we’ve put aside an area for strollers to be stored. —The booster seat set is a tough crowd to please, but Todd Birnbaum thinks he may have found a way to tap the potential of the finicky mom-and-baby market.
“We also give out crayons and pieces of paper that are 3 feet long and have a separate room during the daytime hours where there are Disney [television programs] or cartoons so young parents can get a little help calming their kids.” —The booster seat set is a tough crowd to please, but Todd Birnbaum thinks he may have found a way to tap the potential of the finicky mom-and-baby market.
Catering to the little-kid crowd and their parents is not so easy, but for those who do it successfully, the payoff could be big, according to some industry watchers. —The booster seat set is a tough crowd to please, but Todd Birnbaum thinks he may have found a way to tap the potential of the finicky mom-and-baby market.
“Every time I do surveys with young parents, they almost always say they are strapped for money and time,” said marketing consultant Brit Beemer. “Certainly, there is a demand out there, but I’m not sure what kind of a niche it is as a single category. I would say, however, that if [an operator successfully captures that market] they could end up developing a customer base of between 30 percent and 40 percent of that consumer group.” —The booster seat set is a tough crowd to please, but Todd Birnbaum thinks he may have found a way to tap the potential of the finicky mom-and-baby market.
Other operators also see the potential in appealing to toddlers and their caretakers. —The booster seat set is a tough crowd to please, but Todd Birnbaum thinks he may have found a way to tap the potential of the finicky mom-and-baby market.
Kathy Sidell Trustman, owner of the 220-seat Met Bar and Grill in Natick, Mass., estimates that approximately 30 percent of her customer base is composed of young women with children. The restaurant, which opened in last September, is expected to gross about $6 million in sales this year, according to Trustman, herself the mother of two children. —The booster seat set is a tough crowd to please, but Todd Birnbaum thinks he may have found a way to tap the potential of the finicky mom-and-baby market.
The restaurant’s layout is designed to accommodate children, and features wider aisles in which parents can park strollers alongside booths and tables so children can remain comfortable or sleep uninterrupted. The menu, which features everything from salads and steaks to mini burgers and chicken wings, also is geared to appeal to young and older customers alike. —The booster seat set is a tough crowd to please, but Todd Birnbaum thinks he may have found a way to tap the potential of the finicky mom-and-baby market.
“It was one of our mandates from the start that we accommodate them from the beginning,” she said. “We really understood what the demographic was. It might be because I’m a woman and had that experience, or maybe sensitivity, that male operators don’t have. We see things from different perspectives. And the comfort level of kids and their moms is something that’s on my radar screen. —The booster seat set is a tough crowd to please, but Todd Birnbaum thinks he may have found a way to tap the potential of the finicky mom-and-baby market.
“The restaurant has a lot of whimsy and fun about it,” she continued. “That’s huge in terms of how comfortable kids feel in a space. You know right away if they’re having a good time, and it’s so important that both worlds can feel comfortable and not too compromised.” —The booster seat set is a tough crowd to please, but Todd Birnbaum thinks he may have found a way to tap the potential of the finicky mom-and-baby market.
Lainie Yarris, a working mom with two children who lives in Portland, Ore., said she particularly enjoys dining out at momand-kid-friendly restaurants. A member of UrbanMamas, a networking group that caters to moms of young children, Yarris said she “loves the kid-friendly restaurants in Portland and frequents them most times we go out. I wish there were more [of them], and we definitely notice a difference when we travel elsewhere. To us, a kid-friendly [restaurant] means healthy options and entertainment, such as coloring books, toys and, ideally, a play area, plus a friendly attitude. But it should also have great adult food.” —The booster seat set is a tough crowd to please, but Todd Birnbaum thinks he may have found a way to tap the potential of the finicky mom-and-baby market.
Birnbaum and Trustman said they both plan to expand their respective kid-friendly concepts in the near future. Pinch Pizza’s agreement with Ark is intended to offset food costs and help with expansion. Among Ark’s stable of restaurants are Bryant Park Grill and El Rio Grande in New York, Sequoia and America in Washington, D.C., and Gallagher’s and Stage Deli in Las Vegas. —The booster seat set is a tough crowd to please, but Todd Birnbaum thinks he may have found a way to tap the potential of the finicky mom-and-baby market.
Birnbaum said that future Pinch locations could include New York’s Upper East Side, Long Island, and Westport, Conn. But, he added, “that would be getting way ahead of ourselves. Right now we’re trying to get people familiar locally with the brands. But should we prove successful in this environment, by all means we’d like to grow. We pursued Ark knowing their wealth of experience and wisdom could potentially help us become more successful.” —The booster seat set is a tough crowd to please, but Todd Birnbaum thinks he may have found a way to tap the potential of the finicky mom-and-baby market.