Shirley Temple 2: Judgement Day

by Cal Meier 

Some of you may know about Shirley Temples. If you don’t, you’re missing out! They are the most enticing and delectable drink for all ages. Many people across the U.S. are obsessed, especially children, as the name suggests.

“I’ve never heard of one, sounds okay.” answered Kaiden Ali-Sanni, 806, when interviewed about the drink in question.  Unfortunately, many people have never heard of the drink, or even the young actress it was named for. Today, let’s put that gap of knowledge to rest, as we dive into the story of one 11-year-old boy who took the natural infatuation with this marvellous mixed drink to the next level.

In 2022, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, head chef of Happy Monkey, a popular restaurant in Greenwich, Connecticut, was informed of a critic coming to visit. Naturally, Vongerichten was expecting a middle-aged, stuffy jerk to come poking around. However, this particular critic couldn’t be further from that description. This critic was, in fact, only 8 years old. Leo Kelly, known to his loyal Instagram followers as @theshirleytempleking, wasn’t a usual critic. Partly due to his age, and partly due to the fact that he only reviews one sort of meal. Yep, you guessed it, he only reviews Shirley Temples.

However, there was just one problem. Happy Monkey didn’t have his prized beverage on the menu. But of course, Vongerichten couldn’t just refuse Kelly his precious drink and risk getting a bad review. Instead, the chef and his coworkers made up their own Shirley Temple recipe FROM SCRATCH and gave it to the young critic, and based on his Instagram story that night, as well as the 9.3 rating he awarded the chef, he was clearly impressed. To quote the young connoisseur’s post, “Dinner…was incredible! The restaurant is amazing and Chef was so awesome to sit with me for a Shirley Temple… and an amazing one at that…!” 

Unlike most food critics, Kelly is actually very sweet (just like his favorite drink!). His Instagram has 676 posts, most of which contain him holding up a Shirley Temple in one hand with this big dopey grin all over his face (as seen above), and the most heartwarming comments possible. Just last August, he made a post saying, “My first Shirley Temple as an 11 year old and it’s a winner! The Flamingo Grill served up an incredible Shirley with some of the most amazing garnishes I have ever seen!”. 

He has appeared on talk shows and done interviews with popular TV personalities. He’s even appeared on shows and movies such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, possibly as a result of his internet fame.

“I think that if restaurants see this, they can improve them,” the young critic once claimed in a recent interview with the New York Times. “Not just for when I come in, but for everybody.”

For many years, the Shirley Temple has been forgotten, replaced by cheaper, processed sodas and alcoholic drinks. Kelly himself has confessed to being served “lukewarm Shirley Temples” when he first started out in 2019. Thankfully by 2025, the drink as a whole has gotten back on its feet. And we have Leo Kelly, a kid young enough to go to this school, to thank for that. To quote Noah Carroll, 602, “It’s kind of cool that he’s already a famous critic and he’s only one year younger than me!”