A Silicon Valley Chef Offers Smart Tips For Feeding Your Picky Children

Borrow some of chef Charlie Ayers’ tips and tricks to get your family to eat more nutritious foods. Photo: Cafe Calafia, Facebook

If you’re having trouble feeding fussy eaters healthy foods, it might be a smart idea to follow the lead of Charlie Ayers, who cooked for some of the most brilliant minds in Silicon Valley as Google’s first executive chef.

Google hired Ayers in 1999 after he won a cook-off judged by 40 employees, almost the entire staff. By the time Ayers left Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., in 2005, he was cooking 4,000 lunch and dinners in 10 cafes across the campus for 1,500 engineers, programmers and developers who were creating one of the most innovative companies in the world. Fortunately, their computing skills were better than their eating habits.

“Their refrigerator was a biology project,” Ayers said, from Calafia Café and Market A Go-Go, his restaurant and take-out in downtown Palo Alto, where Apple’s Steve Jobs regularly ate breakfast. “Engineers think they know everything and are resistant to anything coming from people who they think are less educated. So it was hard to convince them to eat better.”

Those phrases — “think they know everything,” “resistant to anything,” “hard to convince” — probably sound familiar to any parent with finicky kids (or any type of kid, for that matter).  But the strategies, ingredients and dishes Ayers used to persuade the Google crew to eat healthier and smarter can be easily adopted by parents who face some of the same struggles in their own homes.

Whole vegetables are packed with nutrients that increase performance and productivity. Photo: Calafia Café

The dishes Ayers put together back then foreshadowed many nutritional trends common today. Prior to Google, he created all-natural, prepared meals for Whole Foods markets in the Bay Area, catered for the Grateful Dead, and worked as a personal chef for a health-conscious couple. Ayers traveled with them overseas, deepening his knowledge of international cuisines, diets, and cultures. “I was already followed an ethos of eating well and eating healthy,” said Ayers, who also consults corporations on building food service programs.

At Google, Ayers figured if the staff ate smarter then they’d work smarter. “I had a vested interest in the company,” he said. “I believe the company that eats well together, stays together, works together, and makes money together.”

The first thing he did was scale back portions and decrease starches, simple carbohydrates, saturated fats, and animal-based proteins. Ayers substituted those with more fish, vegetables, complex carbs, healthful fats, seeds, nuts, and whole juices. The point was to create light yet satisfying dishes that would improve cognition and concentration, boost energy and immunities, and ease inflammation and other soreness that set in after sitting in front of a computer screen for 12 to 18 hours a day.

There are plenty of ways to sneak nutritious ingredients into delicious dishes. Photo: Calafia Cafe, Facebook

“If your body’s not working so hard to metabolize, you have more energy to think,” he said. “In an office environment, you’re sitting down most of the time, so you don’t want a heavy meal. It was all very intentional to serve brain food and to incorporate as many nutrients in the food as possible.”

Here are a few of the ingredients Ayers served throughout his tenure at Google and continues to use at Calafia today to promote health and wellness among his diners.

Seeds. High in fiber, protein, minerals, healthful fats, antioxidants, and fatty acids. Add pumpkin, flax, chia, and hemp seeds, as well as raw nuts, to pesto, salads, vegetables, baked goods, smoothies, and pudding.

Walnuts. Considered a superfood, they have a high level of heart-healthy vitamin E and phytonutrients, which contain antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients. Like most tree nuts, walnuts are also high in fiber, potassium, calcium and magnesium. They’re also incredibly flexible in the kitchen.  Mario Batali’s Linguini with Walnut Sauce from the Food Network is a surprisingly delicious and easy dish.

DHA found in salmon can help improve concentration. Photo: Calafia Café

Salmon. Its many health benefits and nutrients include proteins that improve bone density and strength, as well as DHA, which helps sharpen concentration and boost academic performance. My kids are crazy for this broiled salmon with a mustard and brown sugar glaze from Martha Stewart.

Kale. Ayers started serving “an ungodly amount” of kale before it was all the rage. Kale’s loaded with 10 essential vitamins and antioxidants that lower blood pressure and act as anti-inflammatory and anti-depressant agents. It’s also known to improve vision, boost immunities and strengthen bones, all benefits for active kids. Create some kid-friendly dishes by serving kale in salads with a little feta or goat cheese, chop it up and add it to their favorite sautéed veggies or pasta, or fry it up in some olive oil and sprinkle with a little sea salt for irresistible chips.

Creating a wholesome dish that you hope your kids will like is one thing. Getting them to actually eat it is another. Many of the Googlers Ayers fed had never eaten the types of food he was serving and were somewhat resistant to dig in. Here are a few fun strategies Ayers came up with to persuade them. Try them on your picky eaters.

Another lesson Ayers learned is that it helped to have Googlers involved in the process. Many Googlers were living far from home and had asked Ayers if they could help him make pies and other dishes that reminded them of their mothers’ cooking. The involvement opened them up to trying new food. Kids are no different. Ask them to help make your next dish. Chances are they’ll eat it and look forward to making the next one.

Ayers also wasn’t afraid to substitute ingredients. Just because a recipe calls for something doesn’t mean you have to use it. Substitute unhealthy or heavy ingredients with more healthful and nutritious alternatives. After Ayers served up an Indian feast, a few of the engineers told him how much better – lighter, less greasy, more flavorful – it was than some of the same dishes their mother’s cooked. They even asked him to show them how to do it.

Ayers also learned that eating was a lot more fun if you made it a special event. Google cafés are filled with people from all over the world. To stir some excitement around meals and introduce new dishes, Ayers regularly created menus based on major international holidays. Kids are suckers for that type of thing. Let them decorate the dining room for the special occasion and help prepare the dishes. Celebrate it all with new flavors.

Recipes with healthful ingredients inspired by chef Ayers

Make this crisp-skinned salmon

Try a kale with feta salad tonight

Roasted walnuts add a magic touch to this chicken stew

Any more ideas on how to get kids to eat more nutritious meals? Let us know.