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World's first healthy restaurant for tiny tots to open in Dubai

Dubai - The restaurant set to open by the end of July.

Junk food is everywhere, and it's a problem an Emirati couple has been struggling with. To keep their kids away from the unhealthy dishes offered by many outlets, they came up with an idea to put up a healthy restaurant - exclusively for tiny tots.
Hana Al Mulla and Saud Musabih on Friday announced the launch of their restaurant in Jumeirah, set to open by the end of July.
Called 'White and the Bear', it will be the world's first children's restaurant that will serve only healthy and organic food, the couple said.
Its menu has been designed in partnership with a celebrity chef and child food expert from the UK, Annabel Karmel.
"I am very particular about giving my children healthy food, and it was frustrating for us as parents to go out and not be able to offer healthy food to our children," Hana said.
"Parents work so hard to develop healthy eating habits in their children but as soon as we go out we expose our children to all sorts of unhealthy and attractive food. This issue just bothered me all the time and my heart went out to all those parents who also struggle with getting healthy food for their kids when outdoors."
From the food to the furniture, every little detail has been designed for children aged six months to eight years, said Hana, who has three kids within the same age group.
"All our chairs and tables are only for small kids, but since they have to be accompanied by parents or guardians, I have also kept three tables separately for adults," she said.
"As soon as the kids enter the restaurant, they are made to wear tiny white aprons, after which they are seated on their chairs by the staff, who then brings in a menu book with pictures of the different food items they can have."
To keep the children engaged, Hana has also kept some interactive activities for children. For example, kids who order orange juice can also help squeeze some oranges, using a manual juicer.
Talking about the concept behind the restaurant, Annabel said: "We wanted to create a restaurant where everything was healthy and would give children a sense of independence. This is why we allow them to order for themselves from the menu board book. We also aim to teach them how to make healthy choices and also cook their food."
Some of the food items include no-sugar energy balls made of dates; spaghetti Bolognese with hidden vegetables; hamburgers made of carrots and apple; sweet potato veggies; and butter chicken that is not spicy.
- saman@khaleejtimes.com