A few months ago, my friends Melanie and Troy came to visit with their little one. Melanie and Troy used to live in DC, and high on their to-do list was a stop at Ray’s The Steaks, an affordable, classic steakhouse in Arlington, Virginia. Ray’s has everything you want in a steakhouse — beefy cuts of meat, geriatric waiters, and bottomless sides. Creamed spinach and whipped potatoes accompany any steak order, and you can direct the waitstaff to fill ‘er up to your heart’s desire.
While Ge Ge (my four-year-old son) is many things when it comes to food, he’s never been a huge fan of spinach. That’s not to say I haven’t tried to serve it to him in a variety of forms — raw, steamed, sauteed, blanched — none of it has passed muster. On the night we visited Ray’s, with kids in tow, I pushed a heavy tureen of creamed spinach towards Ge Ge. “Try this spinach,” I pleaded, knowing full well that he’d probably look at me like I grew an extra head. “It’s got cheese and cream and all sorts of unhealthy things added into it. You might like it.”