# you restaurant guys. be honest, do you think your food is healthy?



## boomchakabowwow (Apr 18, 2013)

i recently went with my aunt to some seafood restaurant. i asked them to grill me some fish, salt pepper only..and steam the veggies. no butter, minimum seasoning.

my aunt got the exact same thing, but cooked "normal". tasting them side by side was an eye opener! her's was delicious. the veggies glossy and glistening..full of flavor. mine tasted bland by a huge margin. 

i ate mine. i asked my wife if my cooking was bland. she said no..i can and occasionally will cook with full on intentions to amp up flavors and fat..but not always.

is eating out..can it be healthy?


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## bikehunter (Apr 18, 2013)

boomchakabowwow said:


> i recently went with my aunt to some seafood restaurant. i asked them to grill me some fish, salt pepper only..and steam the veggies. no butter, minimum seasoning.
> 
> my aunt got the exact same thing, but cooked "normal". tasting them side by side was an eye opener! her's was delicious. the veggies glossy and glistening..full of flavor. mine tasted bland by a huge margin.
> 
> ...



Note my signature. ;-)


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## sachem allison (Apr 18, 2013)

you can definitely get healthy food out. I would say about 50% of my menu is healthy and 80% could be made healthy. The other 20% of my menu I would probably kill you if you tried to make healthy. Mac and cheese ain't supposed to be healthy and neither is the smoked mozzarella arancini. Making healthy flavorful is pretty easy. Use all the seasoning you want just watch the salt. a Little bit of fat is actually beneficial and necessary for a healthy diet. Many vitamins are only fat soluble so, you aren't doing your self any favors eating the low fat dressing. use the recommended 1 tablespoon of full fat dressing to 2 cups of salad and toss it so that everything is evenly coated. This way you get the flavor without over doing it. Don't eat the fried chicken everyday but, once in awhile is fine. Don't eat fat free anything, they make up for the lack of flavor that fat imparts to food by adding tons of salt and sugar. Ever wonder why fat people eat fat free diet food and are still fat? Its the sugar and artificial sweeteners. You can most definitely eat well out. Ask for smaller portions or eat half and take the other half home for another meal. You do not have to suffer with boring bland food. Because people like this ("i asked them to grill me some fish, salt pepper only..and steam the veggies. no butter, minimum seasoning.") really annoy the hell out of us. It's bland because, you asked for it that way.


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## boomchakabowwow (Apr 18, 2013)

sachem allison said:


> Ask for smaller portions or eat half and take the other half home for another meal. You do not have to suffer with boring bland food. Because people like this ("i asked them to grill me some fish, salt pepper only..and steam the veggies. no butter, minimum seasoning.") really annoy the hell out of us. It's bland because, you asked for it that way.



i was recovering from some stomach thing and didnt want full blown flavor. all i ate for a week was jello and oatmeal, plain..and white rice congee. i never said i didnt like it bland..i was just amazed about the difference in flavor between the dishes. i had to eat it bland, i didnt trust my system yet. 

and i'm not fat.


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## labor of love (Apr 18, 2013)

Butter is really freaking good for you too, its the fake "butter flavored oil" and margerine you gotta watch out for.


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## boomchakabowwow (Apr 18, 2013)

my body is sponsored by butter.


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## franzb69 (Apr 18, 2013)

whole foods, less processed foods, food that are cooked from scratch are still miles more healthy than any fast food.

there's a reason why the saying "there's nothing like a home cooked meal" is so synonymous all over the world.


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## sachem allison (Apr 18, 2013)

boomchakabowwow said:


> i was recovering from some stomach thing and didnt want full blown flavor. all i ate for a week was jello and oatmeal, plain..and white rice congee. i never said i didnt like it bland..i was just amazed about the difference in flavor between the dishes. i had to eat it bland, i didnt trust my system yet.
> 
> and i'm not fat.


i was just joking with you. hope you feel better


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## Johnny.B.Good (Apr 19, 2013)

sachem allison said:


> ...neither is the smoked mozzarella arancini.



This sounds amazing (I had to Google it).


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## panda (Apr 19, 2013)

what does healthy mean??? :scratchhead:


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## eshua (Apr 19, 2013)

After spending the last 6 months losing 30lbs. I argue strongly that fat and salt have nothing to do with "healthly" food. Its 95% getting the right amount of calories, and the right amount of activity. 
Long term studies even begin to suggest that low salt diets may increase cardiovascular mortality -- http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=899663


My feeling is that its just way more work than its worth to eat healthy at a restaurant. Gona have a nice dinner out?...skip lunch and just have an apple or a protien shake, then order what you really want.
That being said, I haven't used salad dressing in a long time, but other ****.... cooking mushrooms with no salt, scallops no butter?... pasta in any context....its just going to be calorie bomb.

If you have an acute dietary restriction please let us in the kitchen help... To the customers on a fad diet that lets you order two large Sapporo's but want caramelized onions no oil, **** off.


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## labor of love (Apr 19, 2013)

The south beach diet, Mediterranean diet, and the paleo diet all recommend getting 35-40% of your calories from fat. fat certainly isnt the enemy, getting the right fats is whats important. along with portion control.


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## boomchakabowwow (Apr 19, 2013)

sachem allison said:


> i was just joking with you. hope you feel better



yea..me and Noro-virus are not friends..hahahha. i think that is what i caught...


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## marc4pt0 (Apr 19, 2013)

had a nut job come in for brunch and order a vegan omelette. The server, without thinking of course, actually rang it in with the vegan memo. I kindly explained to her that our farmer doesn't raise the special chickens that produce eggbeaters due to the high costs. When the guest was informed that we could not create a vegan omelette, she quickly snapped back that "vegan" means healthy. "what I want is a HEALTHY omelette". 
CLEARLY we were the idiots. I just don't get it.


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## pumbaa (Apr 19, 2013)

Where I work there are some healthy items, but most have a healthy amount of fat, meat, cheese, cream, butter, or a combination of all of the above.


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## NO ChoP! (Apr 19, 2013)

I cook bacon in salted butter.


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## ThEoRy (Apr 19, 2013)

NO ChoP! said:


> I cook bacon in salted butter.



I cook salted butter in bacon.


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## panda (Apr 20, 2013)

forget cooking, just eat the bacon!


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## bieniek (Apr 20, 2013)

hehe This is funny, bland steamed food? For me its all cause the produce is like 3rd category or something. 

What I mean is, I still can remember what a carrot right from the mothers soil taste like, just washed and not even peeled, sweet, full of juice and with that little bitterness from the skin. 
That single carrot was enough for like hundred litres of stock LOL 
Parsnips that were so tasty they only needed some tinfoil and oven baking. 

Potato? Have you ever cooked a potato in water just to find out its tasteless? I mean, you can season it as much as you would like but salt wont help... Yeah, the produce from wholesalers just suck arse. 

Same with basically everything that big business laid their hands onto.

And something from around two years ago if im not mistaken - some doctors and fancy professors made salmon that grows in two years instead of four, and gets bigger in size... Must be delicious, god damn farmed crap

OP, were all on your plate in season? every ingredient? Was that organic in the meaning that when a potato is 25cm long, you get 25cm long chip?


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## Jmadams13 (Apr 20, 2013)

I know our food isn't healthy, lol. We love love love butter. Being healthy is not what we sent out to do. The healthiest thing about us is we don't have a frier. 

My bread can be healthy, it is the substance of life right, lol. I use a bunch of different grains, and almost all of my breads (not all, but most) have flax, millet, amaranth, or other healthy grain. Also long slow fermentation breaks down the gluten, almost pre-digesting it for you, so even gluten sensitive customers have been fine eating it. I guess that can be considered healthy... It's the fast, straight doughs that ferment quickly that cause "gluten sensitivities" people have. 

So what I'm grieving to say I guess is, I think my bread is healthy, but the rest of our food here isn't.


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## Burl Source (Apr 20, 2013)

When I think of healthy food, I remember a friend who decided to only eat raw, organic fruits, nuts and vegetables.
He actually became fanatical about it to the point where he lost his wife and kids. 
There was no argument that he was eating healthy even though after a year he was so gaunt that people thought he had aids or something.

To me, eating healthy is good food handling practices, don't eat spoiled or questionable food, and don't over do things.
Balanced diet, keeping active and a good attitude is what it takes to keep me healthy.

BTW: am I the only one that feels a comment like "be honest now" implies that I would lie otherwise?


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## Burl Source (Apr 21, 2013)

Sorry about the attitude.
I was kind of cranky yesterday.


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## Customfan (Apr 21, 2013)

I agree about trying to make home cooked meals as often as possible,

Its all about portions, I keep reminding myself that I can always take it home and finish it tomorrow when I go eat out.

Eat as healthy as you can, get your heart pumping once a day for at least half an hour and enjoy life!

:angel2:


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## Line cooked (Apr 23, 2013)

I am a former NYC line cook who has worked in several kitchens....My opinion on this is pretty straight forward....some of the food I cooked was definitely high in fat and at times overly decadent, but it many respects it was what people wanted when they went out to eat in a fine dining setting...I will not go as far as to say it was healthy, but the products we used were fresh and not processed, which I do believe make difference in terms of your health


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## snowbrother (Apr 27, 2013)

I would say no.. not heart healthy at least. Everything we make involves butter, duck fat or bacon in one way or another. We do use all fresh and local ingredients and never buy anything pre-made (not even the ketchup), we make everything. So in that regards, it's healthy because we know what we are putting into everything we make.


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## kpeddie2010 (Apr 28, 2013)

i work in a french inspired pacific rim kitchen here in hawaii at the disney aulani. jesus bro i put about 3/4 stick of butter in a single order of in our veggie cream pasta. and every thing is cooked in clarified butter except when asked to cook in olive oil.


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