Ah, the children’s menu. It’s usually a trifecta of junk: chicken fingers, macaroni and cheese, and grilled cheese. Even upscale restaurants tend to dumb down their kid offerings with fries or buttered noodles. Not Denver’s two Hyatt hotels, which recently rolled out a three-course kiddie menu designed by Alice Waters (of California’s celebrated Chez Panisse restaurant). It’s her first hotel project, available at all full-service Hyatts nationwide. As you’d expect from any Waters creation, the lineup changes each season, and it always highlights organic veggies.

My toddler’s meal at Pub 17, the 10-month-old restaurant in the Grand Hyatt on Welton Street, began with a deconstructed salad: She loved dipping sculpted radishes, whole romaine leaves, apple slices, and nuts into the accompanying lemon vinaigrette. The main course paired grilled chicken with a gorgeous skewer of gem-hued, miniature bell peppers, which she delighted in detaching and popping into her mouth. For dessert: strawberry and orange slices served in a hollowed-out orange.

5280 May 2013
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Serving three courses is brilliant because it mimics the pace of grown-up dinners. Best of all: While my daughter felt like a big kid, my husband and I loved feeding her the kind of healthy food we insist on for ourselves. Altitude Restaurant, 650 15th St., 303-486-4434; Pub 17, 1750 Welton St., 303-295-1117, hyatt.com