The above photograph was published in Consider The Sauce on September 23, 2010.

That review of Laksa King was our blog’s eighth story and the first in which a photo of Bennie appeared.

IIRC, the laksa into which he is somewhat less than zealously tucking was a little on the spicy side for him.

That bowl would present no such problems for him these days!

Back then, he was bemused about this blogging business.

As, it can be said, was I myself.

Sometimes, back then, as we were nutting out where to go to eat, ponder and take notes and photographs, he would whine: “Dad, can’t we just go out for dinner!?!”

Gosh, how things have changed!

Nowadays, Bennie automatically scans menus seeking out the unusual, the weird and the challenging.

Nowadays, he will ring me to eagerly pronounce: “Dad, dad – I’ve found a new bakery!!!”

As many CTS Feast attendees and others of our foodie pals with whom we regularly meet to eat now know, Bennie is a wonderful table companion.

He revels not just in the many, varied eating places we discover and visit but also in the festivals and markets and all the wonderful people we meet along the way.

And these days, my incredible, beautiful young man is quite grown-up enough to spend a school holiday day at home while his dad is at work.

He did so yesterday.

And what did he do?

He took the $20 I had left him, got on the train to Footscray and headed straight to a well-known pho joint … where he happily supped on a medium-size sliced beef bowl of wonderfulness.

He did this instead of splurging on an Olympic doughnut or a burger or a kebab or whatever else.

He did so not to suck up to his dad.

He went pho for the simple reason he really, really likes pho. And he really, really likes the idea of dining solo in a pho shop.

And why wouldn’t he? It’s a Very Cool Thing To Do.

Bennie Minter Weir – the World’s Coolest Son.