Читать книгу The Restaurant Diet - Fred Bollaci - Страница 6

Foreword

As a chef and restaurant owner with over three decades in the food industry and twenty-three years in the U.S., I know firsthand the challenges of being surrounded by great food. Over the past two years, I operated a restaurant, a chocolate atelier, was appointed culinary director of the Baccarat Hotel in Manhattan, and—somehow—was still able to lose sixty pounds.

How did I do it? With discipline and by being conscious of what my body needs. Dieting is not eliminating what you love the most. It’s understanding yourself and figuring out the rules that work for your body, so it runs like clockwork. I can totally empathize with diners who struggle trying to lose weight, and, as a restaurant owner, I find it unfortunate that conventional wisdom and most diets tend to steer the public away from eating out and make people feel guilty or fearful when they sit down in a restaurant. They shouldn’t have to.

The Restaurant Diet is the first book I have read that actually encourages and offers delicious tips for people looking to dine out when they want to lose weight and get healthier. This is a timely and necessary concept for diners, especially in places like New York where the culture is health-savvy and there is so much good food that dining out is often preferable to dining in.

When I made the decision to come to the United States, I knew that I wanted to share my passion for the Alsatian cuisine that I grew up with, which was not well-known here. What surprised me most was how differently people eat here. The size of portions was most striking, and in many cases the servings were far more than the average person needs to satisfy their dietary requirements. Not only were portions much larger than in France, people also seemed to eat the majority of the food that was on their plates. In France, people typically eat at a much more relaxed pace; meals are spread out for enjoyment. When people eat in a hurry, they tend to overorder and eat more than they need, resulting in feeling uncomfortably stuffed or bloated. In my world, you can eat practically anything on a menu, provided the food is high quality, balanced, and in appropriate portions. It is also about food pairings. I typically avoid or limit eating sugar and fat together, the same goes for fat and gluten.

We want our guests to be able to enjoy every part of their experience without the stress of going off of their diets. When a guest informs us they are on a diet or have an allergy or are gluten-insensitive or vegetarian, for instance, we are delighted to accommodate their needs. I encourage my guests to be honest with me and our staff and express their needs. We have developed a menu that offers something for everyone, including classic examples of my native Alsatian delicacies, as well as fresh, light, clean foods. We go a long way to educate and expose our clients to the best, most nutritionally balanced foods. Spacing out the courses, and offering abundant, yet not extravagant, portions affords diners the ability to enjoy anything on our menu they may desire, without the guilt. Eating out and being healthier, just like eating healthier at home, involves making informed choices.

I applaud Fred Bollaci for empowering diners who are looking to lose weight to learn to embrace restaurant dining and to enjoy the flavors and social environment of their favorite restaurants without feeling guilty. As a society, we can improve the quality of our lives by learning more about nutrition and educating yourself on what’s good for you. Know what you eat, where it’s from, and who’s behind it. You look the way you eat, so eat slowly and eat well!

The Restaurant Diet is a healthy gourmet Guide for Life that gives a dieter permission to enjoy dining out and losing weight, whether you are in a Michelin-Starred restaurant, or your favorite neighborhood bistro!

To Your Good Health and Bon Appetit! G’sundheit es Gilt!

I look forward to welcoming you to my namesake restaurant.

—Gabriel Kreuther, Michelin Two-Star Chef, James Beard Award-Winning “Best Chef New York City,” culinary director of New York’s Baccarat Hotel, and restaurant owner of Gabriel Kreuther and Kreuther Handcrafted Chocolate in New York