When in doubt, deconstruct

After a three days of eating everything in sight while visiting Mom, it was time to ratchet back. So we found ourselves at Old Chicago in Southgate, Mich.

The restaurant is what the industry calls a casual theme dinner house -- Applebee's by any other name. Pastas, pizzas, nachos, fish-n-chips, something -- as they say -- for the whole family.

It boasts: We use 904 tons of mozzarella cheese a year, more weight than 200 space shuttles at liftoff.

On this weekday lunch, the special was a pizza bar. This, of course, would not do.

But neither would the Asian chicken salad. You know the type. Sugary soy dressing, fried wonton chips or chow main noodles. This one advertised a heap of cold spaghetti noodles.

So I deconstructed. Like Meg Ryan in "When Harry Met Sally," I asked for nearly everything on the side. When the unmentioned fried wonton crisps arrived, I picked them off.

Here's what I picked off:

All this stuff was left off or picked off my salad

And here's what it looked like after I was done:

After being stripped of the fattening stuff

Review: Moro's of Allen Park, Mich.

This bowl of fruit just arrived, gratis

Another visit home to care for Mom, another opportunity to stuff my face until it hurts.

Although visits home are typically when the worst comes out, the most recent trip to suburban Detroit yielded a surprise worth mentioning.

Mom and I went to Moro's. The restaurant has a long history in the suburbs south of Detroit. My generation took dates there before a big school dance like the prom.

It's tiny, dark and cozy, with white linen tablecloths and waiters in tuxedos, even on a Tuesday night. The waiters mix the salad at your table.

The menu is not, in itself, diet friendly. It's heavy on classic red-sauce Italian dishes like veal parmesan, chicken cacciatore and fettuccine Alfredo, even though there are a few dishes like broiled cod.

I was in full, face-stuff mode and went for the cannelloni. I hadn't had it in years. It was meaty, both inside the pasta shells and from the thick bolognese. Mom had veal picante. The Greek salad we ordered was drenched in olive oil by an artistic swing of the server's arm, but I didn't have the heart to stop his show.

But what surprised and delighted us: at the end of the meal, a bowl of fresh fruit and nuts arrives, courtesy of the house. Perhaps it costs them a few dessert orders. More likely, it inspires gratitude from folks like The Restaurant Dieter and the dessert eaters still pass it by for the cherries jubilee.

Way to go Moro's.

The case for cooking at home: If only it were that easy

The New York Times asked a good question this past weekend:

Is junk food really cheaper?

The writer, Mark Bittman, is one of the best food writers out there today. His column in the Times is excellent. His "How to Cook Everything" books are massive, well-researched and full of recipes that are simple, fresh and celebrate the quality of the ingredients. It's a Joy of Cooking for a new generation.

As an advocate of home cooking, he naturally wanted the answer to be no. Right out of the box, he compares some simple healthful dinners like roast chicken against junk food. He comes up with a $28 tally for dinner for four at McDonald's, but touts roast chicken with salad and milk for about $14.

Then it starts getting complicated -- as is the pace of life that drives many families to fast food rather than the stove. And the balance begins to tip in favor of junk food. Families are time starved. Restaurants are more plentiful than grocery stores. A generation doesn't know how to cook or the pleasures of doing so.

Then he gets to an argument that really resonates: junk food is hyper-palatable, juiced up by the restaurant companies with high amounts of physically addictive sugar, fat and salt. He quotes one of my own favorite sources, Dr. David A. Kessler, former commissioner of the Food & Drug Administration and the author of "The End of Overeating."

Restaurant companies created dishes that were "energy dense, highly stimulating and went down easy," Kessler says. "They put it on every street corner and made it mobile, and they made it socially acceptable to eat anytime and anyplace. They created a food carnival, and that's where we live. And if you're used to self-stimulation every 15 minutes, well, you can't run into the kitchen to satisfy that urge."

So the next time you eat out, fight back. Choose restaurants that offer better healthy options. Or boycott. It's the only way things will change.

Review: Nanoosh, New York City

Garden salad with walnut citrus dressing

 There are some restaurants where you go just to get something to eat. Nanoosh is one of them. With three locations in New York, this self-described "Mediterranean Hummus Bar," screams "stop in for a salad or sandwich and a glass of wine anytime."

So The Restaurant Dieter and his spouse found themselves stopping in one Friday night after landing at LaGuardia. My spouse got to the airport from work before I did, so I missed the obligatory coin flip that determines who gets the upgrade to first class. So while The Restaurant Dieter made do with peanuts and a Fresca, his spouse in 3C dined on a chicken sandwich with wine and pretended not to notice actor Hal Holbrook in the next seat. Hal had the beef.

With 8 hours having passed since lunch, it was time for something fast, fresh and without a lot of fuss. Nanoosh's menu seems to fit the bill perfectly. With all of its emphasis on EVOO and organic -- "we have a deep and abiding belief in the power of food to help us live a healthier and more fulfilling life" -- it even seems virtuous on a diet.

Certainly, it can be. However, it would be a mistake to suggest that all Mediterranean food qualifies as diet-friendly. That pool of oil floating atop your hummus is only the start. Ask to leave the oil off, you're still looking at a sesame-paste-and-chickpea dip that's probably more than 100 calories and 5 grams of fat per 1/4 cup. And let's face it, with good whole wheat pita like that served at Nanoosh, nobody's limiting themselves to a quarter cup.

Still there are abundant salads on the menu, along with grilled chicken and tuna. Given the coolness of the evening, it seemed time to dip into a bowl of soup. Nanoosh offers two: organic tomato and a lentil with -- of course -- organic lentils, organic carrots and organic onions. Somebody on that staff decided that a single adjective wouldn't do, but that's another story.

Lentil soup

The soup was a thick porridge of puree and soft whole lentils with enough spice to keep its ultimate brownness from tasting, well, brown. The bowl was large and might well have been dinner in and of itself. Even though it was only $5.50, an option for a smaller cup might be nice.

With it I had the garden salad. And I do mean with it; for some reason, they arrived at the same time, crowding the typically small New York restaurant two-top. The salad was a litany of "organic" adjectives as well -- romaine, cherry tomatoes, carrots, corn, heart of palm. For a little zing (and protein), the kitchen tosses on a handful of dry roasted edamame.

The dressing choices were an extra virgin olive oil and citrus and something really different: oil-free walnut and grapefruit dressing. Non-fat dressings tend to be awful, don't they? Somehow all that crunchy vegetable-ness usually demands a little silken oil to feel satisfying. But a dressing that unusual had to be experienced, so I went with it.

The server said it was a concotion of ground walnuts, walnut extract, grapefruit, sugar, salt and pepper. The flavor was light and fresh, but thanks to the ground nuts, a little gritty. Given the fats present in nuts, it may have been oil-free, but it was not fat free. However much fat the walnuts contributed, it still seemed to need a dash of olive oil. Even then, it did not break the bad-no-oil-dressing rule.

Next time, I'll try the olive oil and citrus dressing. Nanoosh is the kind of place where you stop in. Again and again.

 

 

Review: Lincoln Ristorante, New York City

The first paragraph of the "about" page on Lincoln Ristorante's website is about the building. About its open kitchen architecture and the sloping grass roof one can sit on and take in the  Lincoln Center plaza. The second paragraph is about how this restaurant is "a breakout role" for chef Jonathan Benno after 10 years of cooking at the famed French Laundry and Per Se.

Accordingly, the second paragraph of this review will be about something. About how the food is pretty average. About how it's not a very diet friendly menu. About how a diner or a dieter can do better at any number of Italian restaurants in New York. About how the prices remain crazily high, even with the much-criticized $24 single scallop appetizer off the menu. Heck, about how that open kitchen is really closed in by a giant wall of glass.

About the only thing that exceeded expectations were the comfortable swivel chairs. You can swivel slightly sideways, throw your legs out and slink back comfortably in your chair.

Our server, asked to identify the most diet-friendly dishes, pointed to the five fish entrees on the menu and then proceeded to describe one where the fish sat atop a pile of sautéed greens. OK, clearly we're on our own here.

I selected an entree of branzino with pole beans and tomatoes. For an appetizer, I selected a mushroom salad with roasted broccoli and potatoes. It came with a pine-nut condiment, which the server said could be served on the side. The entire selection aimed for a satisfying meal heavy on fiber-rich ingredients.

First to arrive was an amuse bouche which consisted of a two-bite piece of toast with an incredibly salty mushroom topping. Bad sign. You know how I feel about overly salted foods.

The salad arrived as requested with the condiment on the side. A small bowl held a lumpy brown mixture that our server said consisted of anchovies, pine nuts, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. On the salad or off, it did nothing but add unpleasant bitterness. The salad itself was tiny -- a few leaves of greens, three or four broccoli florets, three or four firm white mushrooms and a couple small fingerling potatoes of various colors, halved. At $21, one almost yearned for the $24 scallop bargain.

The Restaurant Dieter's spouse ordered a primi special consisting of a robiola-stuffed ravoli in a béchamel sauce with New Jersey corn (!) and summer truffle shavings. We both miss our pre-diet membership to the Cheese of the Month Club at New York's Artisanal, so I had to try one. Robiola is gooey, oozy strong cheese. Pairing it with a béchamel and truffles produced a dish that can only be described as cloying.

The branzino was a perfectly cooked rectangle, sitting atop a a melange of beans -- nicely al dente cranberry beans, a few green and wax beans in a pool of pureed bean, extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper. A few grape tomatoes provided the overwhelmingly brown dish with some much needed color. It was more successful, but hardly transporting for a $36 entree.

We were sufficiently unimpressed that we passed on desert altogether, so The Restaurant Dieter's spouse could get a plate for profiteroles across the street at one of our favorite places, Fiorello's. And this dieter assuaged his disappointment with a giant tartufo.

About this, I'll say little.

Another big industry announcement: Too little, too late, too slow

A 10-20 percent reduction in sodium is not enough

Some of the big names are coming forward to talk about healthy eating at restaurants. Despite all the ballyhoo, it's too little, too late, too slow.

The corporate owner of such chains as Olive Garden, Red Lobster, LongHorn Steakhouse and Bahama Breeze is promising to provide more healthy options for diners, including children.

For instance, any kids meal that comes with a side will automatically come with a vegetable or a fruit, though presumably parents will be nagged to death to substitute the French fries.

And meals will shed 10 percent of their calories by 2016 and 20 percent over a 10-year period.

Michelle Obama

The details of the initiative were announced Thursday by Darden Restaurants Inc. and First Lady Michelle Obama. Darden claims to be the world's largest full-service restaurant company, with about 1,900 restaurants in about 49 states. It also operates Captial Grille and Seasons 52, which carved a successful brand out of the promise that nothing on the menu is more than 475 calories.
The announcement carried a lot of lofty-sounding quotations from both Michelle Obama and Darden President Drew Madsen. And the chain rightly deserves some acknowledgement for at least making an effort.

But given the deadly and addictive properties of high-sodium foods, the company should have been more ambitious. How excited should one get about a 10 percent -- or even 20 percent -- sodium cut on a menu such as Olive Garden's, where the sodium content is often obscene? Lasagna is more than 2,800 milligrams of sodium, and spaghetti with Italian sausage tops 3,000. Chicken Parmigiana -- chicken! -- has an astounding 3,380 milligrams of sodium.

The USDA's Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010, says about half the population ought to limit daily sodium intake to 2,300 milligrams. The rest should reduce intake to 1,500 milligrams. The latter group includes children; people 51 and older; African Americans; and those who have hypertension, diabetes or chronic kidney disease.

A 20 percent cut in that lasagna -- 10 years in the making! -- still leaves us with an entree that nobody should eat.

It's surprising that Darden's move drew this kind of reaction from the First Lady:

"Even small changes -- things like offering kids 100 percent fruit juice, or water or skim milk instead of sugary drinks, or maybe giving people the option of having their food baked rather than fried, these are the kind of small changes that can really add up," she is quoted on the White House blog saying.

"So I hope that the people who are watching this announcement, particularly restaurants and other companies across the country, will see this and step up in the coming months in the same way that Darden has.

"But I also hope that parents watching this will keep speaking up and keep demanding healthy options for their kids."

I know how Michelle Obama must feel. It's frustrating that much of the industry does so little to enable healthy eating. It's understandable to want to shout about the slightest progress.


But really, the industry can and should do better. And the First Lady should be careful about attaching her name to efforts that ultimately undermine the important message she's trying to deliver.

Zagat says patrons want to eat healthier at fast food restaurants

The folks at Zagat say that 69 percent of folks responding to their annual national fast food survey said they favored calorie count displays and 55 percent say their ordering behavior has been affected by them.

Founder and CEO Tim Zagat says that the average person taking part in the survey ate out at fast food restaurants nearly 11 times a month, according to Nation's Restaurant News' report on the survey.

"It's worth noting that the majority of surveyors are taking their health seriously and are demanding transparency from the industry," he said. "It's also encouraging to see chain restaurants stepping up and offering healthier options."

And at the risk of getting into a debate about the federal government being a so-called "mommy state," it's also worth noting that new rules coming on line in 2012 are helping. They require that any chain with at least 20 units to show calorie counts on menu boards.

And given our obesity rate, the change couldn't come soon enough.

Best in fast food? Everything's relative

Another website has come up with its list of best bets among chain restaurant fast food.

It's a pretty good list if one remembers that this food should be consumed only occasionally.

The Cheesecake Factory: Unapologetic about its campaign to kill you

"When people eat at home, they want to eat low cal, but when they go out to dine, they really want every calorie they're paying for," says David Overton, CEO of The Cheesecake Factory. "Because it's celebratory, they're here, they want to have a good time.

David Overton

That quote from the chain's 65-year-old founder comes from a recent interview with ABC News.  It made me race for the Google's image search, hoping to find a photo. Was the man overweight and perhaps skirting with poor health himself? I wanted to indulge a fantasy that karma would come back around to punish him for pushing some of the most outrageous and over-sized restaurant foods in America.

The photo of him from several websites appears to be the kind of corporate CEO portrait handed out by the PR department. It shows a round-faced man with full cheeks and a blossoming second chin on top of what appears to be a large frame.

Perhaps Overton's eaten a few too many of his chain's Farmhouse Burgers, topped with bacon, mayo and a fried egg. It seems telling that the company's website doesn't include a section on nutritional analysis. Most other chains do at least that.

The large portions, he says, are "what America wants to eat."

Certainly, his chain's status as one of the industry's most profitable chains backs him up. But hasn't he ever heard of corporate responsibility? And if not that, how about enlightened self interest? That may be at work with the company's recently-introduced SkinnyLicious (TM) Menu

Let's hope the effort is catching when it comes to the rest of the menu. When his current customer base succumbs to Type 2 Diabetes and premature death, who will line up at his restaurants then?

Review: Pepe's Wharf, Provincetown, Mass.

Greek salad with lobster, dressing and feta on the side

When one goes on vacation, a good rule-of-thumb for finding a good restaurant is: never within a mile of a business that sells T-shirts, ice cream, candy or -- most particularly -- salt water taffy.

The restaurant is bound to be a tourist trap, notable more for its view and proximity to the huddled masses than for its cuisine. And for healthy options? You'd have a better chance finding a wax museum.

View from the patio at Pepe's Wharf

A recent trip to this seaside resort proved otherwise when lunch landed The Restaurant Dieter at Pepe's Wharf. It delivered on the view; Provincetown Harbor lapped at the shore a few feet below the covered deck, while breezes blew.

But amazingly, it also delivered on the food. The menu is resplendent with seafood, of course, and a host of salads that are either low fat or can be easily adapted to be so. And this is despite a rather stern warning on the menu that items may not be substituted. In two visits, I must have gotten servers who cannot read, fortunately.

When you're this deep in lobstah-land, the ubiquitous crustacean-and-mayo roll is tempting. In its poorest incarnations, it's little more than the odds and ends of the creature's meat, buried in so much commercial mayonnaise that it might as well be canned tuna.

Because Pepe's doesn't dress its lobster until just before serving, a dieter could even order a lobster roll and specify a minor amount of dressing, on-the-side or even none at all. Now that's progress.

Gazpacho sans sour cream

Even though it was lunch, I opted for a starter because the menu had a gazpacho. It seemed a thoughtful addition for a restaurant where cream-based chowders would the expected fare. Why not reward that helpful gesture to dieters?

The soup was a thick collection of meaty diced tomatoes, cucumber, onion, pepper. It had a touch of oil and a tart acid -- vinegar, I think -- to kick up the flavor. The server thoughtfully suggested that I go without the dollop of sour cream typically included. The soup didn't suffer.

Likewise, he also told the kitchen to go light on the mayo for the lobster in my Greek salad. I'd assumed in a salad like this that it would come without any dressing at all, but was wrong. Because it was so lightly dressed -- perhaps a tablespoon of mayo for what must have been 6 to 8 ounces of lobster, I let it stand. (I'd asked, of course, for the feta and balsamic dressing on the side.)

Did you just catch that? Six to 8 ounces of lobster on the salad -- equal to the hefty portions coming out of the kitchen on those toasted hotdog buns. It really was enough to share, but I ate the whole thing, for it was luscious chunks of claw and knuckle meat. Like shrimp, it's a nutritional bargain. Three ounces is just 77 calories and 1 gram of fat. Provided cholesterol isn't an issue -- there's 81 mg in that same serving -- it makes a great diet food.

That is, if you skip the drawn butter, or tons of mayo it comes served with. At Pepe's, that's easy enough.

Just avoid the ice cream and salt water taffy down the street.