Coloring contest lets kids
help design children’s menu

By Jon Campisi
Times Staff Writer

Calling all creative youngsters.
Four Points by Sheraton, formerly the Double Tree Hotel, located at the corner of Roosevelt Boulevard and Grant Avenue, has launched a campaign for a new menu for the hotel’s eatery, Cobblestones Restaurant, which opened in January.
The goal is to have children themselves design the children’s menu, which offers traditional kid-friendly fare, such as macaroni and cheese, hamburgers and chicken fingers.
"Part of our drive is to get more families here on the weekends," said Four Points by Sheraton General Manager Lori Simpson. "We want to have something fun created by kids for kids."
The "Cool Kids Coloring Contest" is open to children ages 7 to 11. The winner will be treated to a free lunch for the entire family, as well as a cooking class at the hotel. Simpson said she believes the latter will be added incentive, since the youngsters will even be outfitted in chef’s uniforms.
"We’re going to make it a real fun experience for whoever wins this," Simpson said.
The contest will give children a chance to design the cover to the kids menu and describe the type of dishes they would like to see offered.
Entries should be submitted on 8 1/2- by 11-inch paper and should be dated and include the artist’s name, age, school, grade and contact information on the back. Contestants should also include a brief description explaining why they chose the food items they would like to see on the menu.
Simpson said the hotel would like to attract families from outside, since oftentimes those who dine in hotel restaurants are guests already staying at the hotel.
"It’s an opportunity for people that want to dine in a great restaurant," she said, noting the building recently had a $10 million renovation.
In addition to offering "continental cuisine with a Philadelphia flare," as Simpson puts it, Cobblestones Restaurant is also a microbrewery, offering a wide variety of unique beers. And the head chef at the restaurant is also what is known as its "chief beer officer," intimately familiar with the microbrewery’s selection of 27 beers.
While Four Points by Sheraton has another location in the area, near the Philadelphia International Airport, the children’s menu from the coloring contest will only be used at the Northeast Philadelphia location.
The deadline for entries in the kids coloring contest is June 2, and judging will take place June 9 by a panel of hotel and restaurant employees.
Entries can be submitted to: Cool Kids Coloring Contest, Breslow Partners, 2042 Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, PA 19103. ••