New York’s newest food critic has a limited vocabulary, requires a booster seat, and can’t make his own reservations. But his opinions are oh so cute.
Food Baby Matthew Chau, i.e. the 16-month-old son of Mike Chau, has taken Instagram by storm, amassing almost 10,000 followers since the account launched this past summer.
“For the past few years, I’ve really loved eating out and taking pictures of good food. Once my son was born I was equally as obsessed with taking pictures of him. I realized that the same pictures of food or the same pictures of a sleeping baby started to get boring — no matter how good the food looked or how cute the baby was– so I thought it would be fun and funny to combine the two,” said Chau on the origins of his child’s social media fame.
Though Food Baby has recently switched from a breast milk diet, his palate is rapidly expanding. “He has started eating with us when we go out– don’t worry, we don’t feed him garbage and ice cream constantly,” said Chau. Food Baby also really enjoys pasta, ramen and fruit.
Chau and his wife Alexandra take their baby everywhere. While they rarely dine out solo, they’re planning to leave him with the grandparents when the new Momofuku Ko opens.
As for babies in restaurants, Chau doesn’t mind them as long as they’re as well behaved as Matthew. “I understand when I see some people groan initially when they see us enter with a baby, but 9 times out of 10 those people approach us on their way out and remark on what a well-behaved baby he was throughout the meal,” he said. Like any baby, he has his moments, but a quick break outside usually calms any outbursts.
In what may be the Internet’s most adorable (and delicious) exercise in parent-child bonding, Chau plans to continue with @foodbabyny, “I would love to do more and be able to spend even more time with him.”
Food Baby skips the bottle and gives some of best reactions to notable NYC restaurants.
