Weighing In
As patrons try to downsize, operators take different approaches to diet fare
By Laura Yee, Senior Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 1/1/2004
It’s hard to say who has to work harder, consumers devoted to high-protein regimens or operators trying to satisfy customers’ dietary demands.
Shifts in the eating patterns of many Americans have foodservice rethinking and retooling menus in unprecedented ways and with unusual speed. Diners increasingly have been sending back untouched breadbaskets, eschewing high-starch dishes such as pasta and asking chefs to curb carbohydrates in entrées.
It’s an acceleration of a trend that has been developing for several years. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, cereals/bakery products (which includes pasta), sugar/other sweets and fresh fruit were the only food-at-home categories showing decreases in consumer spending from 2000 to 2001. In a nod to their protein density, the largest gain was posted by meats/poultry/fish/eggs.
Americans are nothing if not diet-obsessed, and if their weight-loss ways once were happily suspended during restaurant meals, that no longer holds true. The Atkins diet is only one of many reduction plans sending restaurant chefs into R&D kitchens in search of ways to satisfy the many strategies, whether low-fat, low-calorie or low-carbohydrate.
Dallas-based T.G.I. Friday’s says its in-house Diet Awareness and Usage Report finds that 19% of frequent casual-dining segment customers currently follow the Atkins diet. That’s why the chain last month launched a variety of Atkins-approved low-carbohydrate menu items. They include new dishes such as Garlic Chicken with Mixed Vegetables, and Sizzling New York Strip Steak with Blue Cheese, as well as the option of having current appetizer Tuscan Spinach Dip served with vegetables rather than tortilla chips and ciabatta-bread wedges.
Oak Brook, Ill.-based-McDonald’s introduced leaner, all-white-meat Chicken McNuggets while Miami-based Burger King rolled out Fire-Grilled Chicken Baguette sandwiches, each with 5 grams of fat. Last month, St. Louis-based Hardee’s debuted a lettuce-wrapped Thickburger, a 1/3-pound beef patty in an iceberg “bun.” Even pizza is getting lighter. In October, Dallas-based Pizza Hut added Fit ‘N Delicious pizza featuring less cheese and leaner toppings such as chicken, ham or vegetables.
 Ruby Tuesday’s new low-carb menu includes (above) Spicy Chicken Salad and a Turkey Wrap sandwich. |
“Eating fewer carbs and choosing lighter fare is not a diet, it’s simply a way of life,” says Tom Gray, chef-owner of Bistro Aix in Jacksonville, Fla. “People know more about what’s in their food, what’s good and not so good, and they are making smarter choices. It doesn’t mean everyone is on a diet. It means people are more aware.”
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Casual-dining concept Ruby Tuesday is taking an aggressive, holistic approach to accommodating the increasing demand for low-carbohydrate and more-healthful options. Called Smart Eating, the initiative was launched in November after four months in development and added more than 30 low-carb/healthful options across all menu categories, including desserts.
Created with the help of a physician specializing in wellness, the low-carb offerings at the Maryville, Tenn.-based chain’s 650 restaurants are spotlighted on the menu. Smart Eating “is a long-term commitment to help our guests eat smarter and healthier,” says Ruby Tuesday CEO Sandy Beall, a low-carb-diet follower.
 Bistro Aix Chef-owner Tom Gray says lighter fare such as fish needn’t be bland diet food. |
Side dishes such as creamy mashed cauliflower can substitute for mashed potatoes while whole-grain tortillas replace white-flour versions in low-carb fajitas and quesadillas. Whole-grain tortillas also replace traditional buns for new Burger Wrap and Turkey Burger Wrap sandwiches. Ruby Tuesday adopted canola oil for frying to eliminate trans fatty acids found in partially hydrogenated oils.
“This is a very long-term commitment and the first phase for smarter eating choices,” says Richard Johnson, Ruby Tuesday senior vice president. The company provides its 33,000 employees with wellness training and challenged them to lose a collective 30,000 pounds over the next several months. The chain will donate $5 to the American Heart Association for each pound dropped.
Johnson and other operators, however, emphasize that their chains are not becoming health-food restaurants but rather concepts that offer more choices.
 Au Bon Pain now offers muffins made without trans fatty acid. |
It’s to Diet for Mexican casual-dining chain Don Pablo’s takes an integrated approach to accommodating current dietary trends. The Madison, Ga.-based concept recently introduced low-carbohydrate fajitas that swap lettuce leaves for tortillas and also instituted smaller portions. “We are having tremendous success with the fajitas. Our next step is to menu appetizers, salads, desserts and other entrées that are a little lighter,” says Frank Jock, director of research and development. “We are trying to do bold, healthful food and smaller portions.”
Jock says the chain’s successful introduction last year of Black Angus fajitas shows that “simple culinary techniques executed well with high-quality ingredients are the secret to success now.”
Workplace Options
Noncommercial operators, too, find that they must respond. Philadelphia-based
contractor Aramark is formulating a systemic approach to meet
shifting customer eating habits. Paul Carr, executive corporate
chef, says choice is a significant consideration as
 Bistro Aix Chef-owner Tom Gray says lighter fare such as fish needn’t be bland diet food. |
the company determines how to cater to the tastes of more-health-conscious diners. Interest in healthful options is strongest in the company’s business-and-industry segment, he says. But it is unlikely that Aramark will develop a separate low-carb concept, Carr says.
“We are creating a multitude of options, not just low-carb bread or pasta,” he says, adding that new items will be integrated into current programs. “We will look at the way a dish is produced and determine how to do it so the food is fresh, flavorful and low-carb.”
Chef Eric Rillos of Lot 1224 in the Loews Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles says his design-your-own-menu format was put in place to accommodate dietary trends. Dishes are categorized as shellfish, salad, poultry, beef, vegetables, starches and sauces. Glazed eggplant, charred asparagus, roasted baby beets and wok-fired bok choy are listed under vegetables, while starches include potato gratin, roasted fingerling potatoes and vegetable fried rice.
“The idea is not groundbreaking, but it allows customers to eat what they want, whether menu items are low-carb, vegetarian or high-protein,” Rillos says. “The key to all the diet hype is choice.”
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