An Adventure in Dining

The owners of DC3 restaurant at the Santa Monica Airport have seen business climb, thanks to some aerial innovations.

While parents watch takeoffs and landings from the intimate dining room, children are treated to a special evening of their own in the restaurant’s banquet room and the adjacent Museum of Flying.

The twist on family dining is the brainchild of Dan Ryan, vice president and general manager for the upscale restaurant overlooking the runway. “This allows parents (the chance) to have a romantic evening without the children,” said Ryan. “They don’t have to arrange for a baby-sitter or interrupt their dinner to call home.”

Under the supervision of licensed baby-sitters, children also are served dinner but it is not the usual fare of burgers and fries.

Instead, they can choose from such selections as pasta, pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, salad and ice cream sundaes.

The fun begins as the children are taken on a high-flying adventure in the museum, which opened in 1989 to preserve historic aircraft.

The sky is the limit when it comes to fun. Children are free to explore the exhibits and sit at the controls of a Vietnam-era helicopter.

Behind the guard ropes are a number of planes including a Russian Yakovlev Yak-3, a World War II fighter plane.

The evening isn’t complete without a ride on a motion simulator or catching a Charlie Brown film on the evolution of flying.

In the words of one 7-year-old critic, Claire Soloosky of Pacific Palisades: “There’s that neat simulator. And you get to see airplanes.”

Ryan decided two years ago to wing it and offer free children’s programs on Tuesday nights as a way to lure parents out of the house during the week. So he talked his chef into modifying the menu, hired an outside baby-sitting service and made arrangements to rent the museum.

The program became an instant success and has since expanded to Wednesday and Thursday nights.

The restaurant’s only requirement is children must be at least 3 and potty trained.

Reservations are required by 2 p.m. on the day you plan to dine.

“There’s not (another) restaurant where they are fed and entertained,” Patti Ros, said, referring to her children. “The kids love it.”

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DC3 restaurant, 2800 Donald Douglas Loop North, Santa Monica; free children’s program offered 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; reservations required; information: (310) 399-2323.