That didn't preclude having had some of the other food available, but Junior was going to go with what he had. He nodded along, ate some food for himself, then shifted his chair closer to her without getting all up in her space. "You should try that," he said with a nod to the meal she had chosen. "If it's too much at once, I can make you something a little more bland until you're used to the taste."

See? He could be thoughtful! Even if he was still relying on the outcome of his own cooking to make the impact. Most of the food here wasn't made with the assumption you had never tasted anything interesting before, and now Junior was worried that too much flavor might put her off from it entirely.