Thanks so much Carol.
I was proud of my idea as well, but am very happy that it actually worked.
We tried the restaurant route too, specifically taking him to buffets so he could try different things. We told him he didn't have to eat anything he didn't like but he needed to take a bite of whatever he put on his plate. He was pretty open to it, but he never actually found anything he liked any of the times we went, so it wasn't something that we could really take home and replicate.