Healthier restaurants?

Following up on my post about restaurants displaying calories on the menu ,  I’m sure we can all agree that it is a step in the right direction towards promoting a healthier lifestyle.  Even though the lower calorie alternative is not always the healthier option, we both know that foods like salmon, peanut butter, olive oil and avocado aren’t the foods which are hiking up the calories in a restaurant.  The culprits are more likely to be ingredients like soybean oil, butter, meat skin, cream and cream-based dressings, etc. Fortunately there are other ways to eat healthier at restaurants without relying on calories.  As part of their social responsibility, here are some other  measures restaurants can take towards promoting a healthy society:

• Indicate the healthier options.  This might be more beneficial than calorie displays.  Ultimately nutritional stats are relative.  Not only that, the numbers are likely to confuse the average consumer who is not so health-savvy!
  
• Offer the ‘scooped out’ sandwich option.  I was shocked to find this option at a cafe in Dubai but I loved it.  By removing the bread’s extra doughiness, I satisfied my bagel fix without walking away feeling overly stuffed.  If this is not an option, you can always eat your sandwich open-faced!
• Incorporate mayo replacements like avocado, hummus, or pesto.  Calorie wise, they are equals but ingredient wise, mayo is at the bottom of the barrel.
• Include burgers made of leaner cuts of meat like chicken, ostrich or turkey.
• Use organic ingredients.  I rarely shop organic and am not fussy in the slightest but it is a good feeling when I AM eating organic foods.  If anything, it’s psychologically pleasing. 😀
• Ensure the availability of brown rice and wholewheat bread/wraps.  One thing that drives me nuts is when restaurants offer ‘premium brown bread’ as opposed to ‘wholewheat’. That’s just a glorified way of saying white bread with added caramel coloring.
• Ask the consumer whether he/she wants the dressing on the side.  Restaurants can be overly generous with the wrong ingredients, and are notoriously known for drenching their ‘once-healthy’ salads with creamy dressings.  Providing it separately enables the customer to enjoy the flavor while controlling exactly how much is used- WIN!
• Make the healthier options fair-priced.  Ever notice how the salads or fruit platters tend to be pricey given their ingredients?  That’s a surefire way to get a consumer to think twice about his/her meal choice.
• Offer smaller dessert portions.  It’s common sense yet so easily forgotten: half the portion = half the calories + total taste.  I love indulging my sweet tooth after a meal but sometimes the portions are just TOO big or my fellow diners don’t want to share.  Trust me when I say I heart dessert but let’s be honest: dessert is a palate cleanser, not an appetite suppressor, especially when I’ve just finished an entree!

And my number one tip that WE as consumers should take note off:

• Indulge intelligently.  Obviously it’s still a long way till restaurants completely embrace the concept of ‘healthy’.  So if I’m going to eat something which is probably not the healthiest option, you better believe it’s going to be good, not something I can order anywhere like a margherita pizza.

Perhaps opening a restaurant should be in my future 😉 .  What’s your take? How else can restaurants contribute to a healthier tomorrow?