Say thank you,” coaxed a mother as she handed a prosciutto scone to her 2-year-old, who was holding a very smartly decorated Mason jar filled with milk. Such was the first scene that greeted me at Bumble, a restaurant in downtown Los Altos
that is starting to garner some legitimate buzz. Its cottage setting is reminiscent of a visit to Grandma’s: impossibly clean, surprises for the children and collective sighs of relief from the parents.

Even Bumble’s food philosophy has maternal underpinnings. Serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and tea for two, the restaurant offers mostly farm-fresh and local menu items, mirroring founders’ Mary and Brian Heffernan’s parental resolve. The menu features a smiling picture of the family visiting one of the cow farms where Bumble gets its grass-fed beef.

I had heard about the quinoa salad ($8/$12), so naturally I gravitated to it first. When the salad arrived, I was stirred immediately by the colors: pieces of butternut squash, pumpkin seeds and spicy arugula twisted through clusters of earthy quinoa. Pomegranate seeds were sprinkled on top like confetti. I could have eaten this all day. The view: brilliantly colored fish soaring through a salt-water tank that separates the dining room from Bumble’s playroom. For $10/half-hour, parents can enjoy a meal while Bumble entertains their children with crafts and other pleasantries. In the bathroom, baby wipes and diapers were organized on handy shelves next to the sink. This is the most kid-friendly bathroom outside my own changing-table.

Back at the table, the grass-fed burger ($16) had been brought out. A Gouda cheese slab, caramelized onions and bacon marmalade completed the assembly. The bacon marmalade tasted like the succulent pork in steamed Vietnamese buns. I was clamoring for more smoky than sweet, though. Sourdough bread was perfect in taste and weight.

A playful order is the pretzel-coated chicken ($10), which is dressed in a nice crunch. Pretzels are finely crushed, and the chicken is dredged in the crumbs and baked—Bumble’s rendition of “healthy” fried chicken. It was moist, with an agreeable malty aftertaste. I also enjoyed chef Marc’s French dip ($16) with marinated sirloin, Gruy