Diet Novelties .com

…„The trend towards low-fat diet has not created considerable impact on the restaurant sector, as consumers continue to prefer flavor over cholesterol content when dining outdoors. Such has posed problems for restaurant owners who are ambivalent over rendering health alternatives. Industry analysts, however, claim that restaurants must maintain their focus on non-health and healthy diets to cater to the needs of all types of diners.

Customers talk healthy, but are they really interested in a more healthful way of eating out? Don’t revamp your entire menu yet, but there are signs that restaurants offering a more healthful way of eating out are being rewarded.

While Americans used to associate eating out with burgers, fries and other foods that are high in fat, cholesterol and calories, the latest trend goes in a different direction. Some restaurants are now looking to target the more health-conscious diners.

Yet how paradoxical it seems that according to a 1998 USDA study, Americans are preparing and eating more healthful and low-fat foods at home, but when they go out to eat, they want everything except low-fat and fat-free foods.

Last summer, while hosting one of her television shows on the topic “My Favorite Things,” talk show queen Oprah Winfrey said, “If there was a fast food restaurant chain that sold only low-fat and tasty foods, it would gross a zillion dollars annually.”

No one seemed to take Oprah’s advice seriously as most fast food chains continue to offer customers both the low- and the high-fat alternatives. The three giant fast food chains - McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s - have spent millions to develop and market healthful sandwiches, but consumers don’t want to buy them. So these chains continue to market what the customers will buy, which are bigger, high-fat sandwiches and potato items, such as the new Big King sandwich from Burger King, which contains 46 grams of fat, McDonald’s Super Size Big Mac Combo Meal with 52 grams of fat and the popular Wendy’s Chili and Cheese Potato with 24 grams of fat.

But not all restaurants are experiencing this phenomenon of people springing for the most unhealthy meal.

“Our customers want flavor, flavor, flavor - without the fat, cholesterol, sodium and sugar,” says Michael Moorman, managing partner of HeartWise Express Restaurant in Chicago. “We are located in the heart of Chicago’s business district, and our customers are health-conscious people who want food with flavor and not fat,” he says.

HeartWise Express has an extensive menu with a combination of comfort, fusion, ethnic entrees and sandwiches containing less than 5 grams of fat and 350 calories. Some HeartWise Express best sellers include the HeartWise Burger, the Sloppy Joe, Santa Fe Black Bean Burrito Wrap and its rigatoni entree.

Perhaps people do not always have the option of choosing from a healthier menu. Out of thousands of restaurants in New York City, Heartbeat Restaurant in the W Hotel is one of the few that focuses on serving true power breakfasts and lunches to its customers. It has a menu that accents the natural flavors of foods without the use of butter, cream or saturated oils. Some of Heartbeat’s power breakfast items are the multigrain vanilla pancakes, pastel egg omelets (one egg yolk plus three egg whites), garden herbs, smoked salmon and milk from organic cows.

“We are proud to call ourselves simple and healthy. We use only the best ingredients derived from the freshest seasonal organic fare,” says Heartbeat Executive Chef Michel Nischan.

“We are not trying to market ourselves as a low-fat restaurant, just a restaurant that is simple and healthy. Our meals are naturally low in fat and calories because of the preparation techniques we use,” Nischan points out. “It is our mission to create an atmosphere where our diners can enjoy a delicious meal and still feel good about what they have eaten.”

Just shy of its first year in business, Heartbeat is the creation of restaurateur Drew Nieporent’s Myriad Restaurant Group. While New Yorkers often come to the restaurant, Nieporent is not striving to expand his healthy concept around the United States.

“Although we are located in the heart of Manhattan, tourists make up a small percentage of our customer base; it is the native New Yorkers who thrive on our power breakfast and lunch menus,” Nieporent says. Myriad operates a total of 14 restaurants, including Tribeca Grill and City Wine and Cigar. Might there be more Heartbeats? “We don’t run a cookie cutter restaurant concept operation; Heartbeat will not be chained across the country,” he says.

To Change or Not to Change?

As many restaurants continuously revamp their menus to satisfy all parts of the population, restaurant owners and employees disagree about what customers truly seek.

Dooky Chase Restaurant in New Orleans offers signature low-fat menu items, such as Leah Chase’s Oven-Fried Chicken, Mustard Greens with Smoked Turkey and Creole Chicken. Leah Chase of Dooky Chase Restaurant is still uncertain of whether or not this health trend will last, but she tries to offer different options to her customers.

“I am not sure if the concept of a healthy alternative restaurant will ever take off, but diners need to watch what they eat,” Chase says. “My restaurant is a crossover between Creole and Soul Food. Because most of our menu ingredients are versatile, we can easily accommodate our customers who might have certain dietary requests,” she says.

Chef Paul Prudhomme, who put Cajun cooking on the national agenda, also has expanded the menu in his restaurant to meet the needs of the various types of diners. K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen is not just Cajun cooking; because the menu consists of a variety of regional Louisiana foods, it is Louisiana cooking. Prudhomme also has about 30 low-fat dishes that he rotates frequently.

But are all restaurants jumping on the low-fat bandwagon? Bonnie Warren, public relations director at Brennan’s, doesn’t think so.

“At Brennan’s, we don’t really follow trends and new concepts,” explains Warren. “We have been serving the same menu for more than 30 years. I believe when people go out to eat - breakfast, lunch or dinner - they really just want to enjoy a good meal and not worry about the nutritional information. Most of our customers are tourists who come to New Orleans just to eat at Brennan’s, so they are not concerned about low-fat eating - they want to try our Oysters Rockefeller, Barbecued Shrimp and Bananas Foster,” she says.

Weighing the Options

Some studies show that the locals in New Orleans cannot afford to continue eating traditional Cajun and Creole cuisine on a daily basis. The Coalition for Excess Weight and Risk Education conducted a 1997 study and concluded that New Orleans ranked number one out of 37 major US. cities as having the highest percentage of obese residents who suffer from high cases of heart disease, diabetes and other weight-related problems.

Restaurateurs in New Orleans are coming up with different ways to make their menus more healthful. Some are turning to one of the latest diet book on the market: The Sugar Busters/Diet (Ballantine Books), by H. Leighton Steward. As it focuses on transforming the way Americans eat, it allows one to eat most foods in normal quantities, including fat. The catch is to avoid foods or combinations of foods that require the secretion of large amounts of insulin to regulate blood sugar.

According to the authors, foods that are high in sugar cause a definite strain on the body’s health and certainly the waistline. Example: Fructose, which is the sugar in fruit, will normally not hurt you, but eating it at the wrong time or with the wrong combination can create both digestive and metabolic problems. Sugar acts as a stimulus in causing the pancreas gland to secrete one of the body’s most powerful hormones: insulin. Insulin causes the body to store excess sugar as fat and also signals the liver to make cholesterol.

By following this diet, the author says, “Almost anyone will lose weight and become healthy simultaneously.”

Executive Chef Jamie Shannon at Commander’s Palace in New Orleans recently turned to this option to serve his more health-conscious diners. Shannon says that the restaurant has a daily luncheon menu called the Commander’s Sugar Busters! lunch, which is consumed mostly by native New Orleans customers who tell his staff how much weight they have lost or are losing. The diabetic customers are also crazy about the Sugar Busters! lunches.

“The Sugar Busters! Diet might be the answer to some of our health problems in New Orleans,” Shannon says. “This diet has popped up on several restaurant menus in New Orleans, including ours.”

A typical Commander’s Sugar Buster! lunch contains three courses, such as red bean soup (garnished with grilled andouille and green onions), mixed baby greens salad and a grilled New York strip luncheon steak, served with wild rice, snap peas and finished with cayenne compound butter. Keep in mind the menu changes daily.

Other restaurants in New Orleans that are currently serving and advertising the Sugar Busters! Diet are Andrea’s, Antoine’s and Bella Luna.

Restaurant employees are starting to anticipate that some customers are in search of a low-fat meal. Executive Chef Rene Bajeaux at New Orleans’ only Mobil five-star restaurant, The Grill Room at the Windsor Court Hotel, has recently lost 60 pounds on the Sugar Busters Diet! and says he understands the needs of diners and offers them the healthy alternative.

“Years ago I would cringe when requests for low-fat would come from a customer because we were not prepared for them,” says Bajeaux. “Now, we anticipate this is normal and design our menus accordingly. My job is to satisfy, please and have repeat diners.”

The Sugar Busters! Diet book has been on the New York Times bestseller’s list for over 52 weeks. Only time will tell if this new wave of eating is just another trend that will fade away like those suggested in other diet books and offered in other restaurant concepts. Perhaps because of the level of interest in top New Orleans restaurants, healthful menu offerings will become more prevalent in restaurants elsewhere throughout America.

Healthful menu items on the rise

It seems restaurateurs and patrons alike are no longer in search of the “traditional” dining out meal; they are both taking a second look at the healthy side of menus.

A 1999 study by the NRA shows that lower-fat menu items, such as seafood, chicken and salad, have gained popularity over the past two years and that 4 out of 10 tableservice restaurants promote those items with specific nutritional benefits.

People are eating out more than ever, which means they want greater nutritional value in those foods they consume away from home. This has led restaurants to meet the demand for both the traditional home-style fare and the low-fat vegetarian items. …”