Question:
If there is a buck to be made, someone will sell it: NY Times _______________________________________________________- __________ January 4, 2004 Restaurant Chains, Too, Watch Their Carbs By JULIE DUNN FOR many Americans, a new year means a diet, and in 2004, there is a good chance that it's a low-carbohydrate, high-protein one. More than 10 million people are following a low-carb regimen like the Atkins diet, the Zone or the South Beach diet, according to the NPD Group, a market research company in Chicago. Recognizing the size of the trend, nearly every part of the food industry, from manufacturers to restaurant chains, has introduced low-carb products. "We're just seeing the leading edge of this, but low-carb is becoming ubiquitous," said Dean Rotbart, executive editor of LowCarbiz, a trade newsletter that started last July and is based in Denver. "Atkins has become something like Kleenex is to facial tissue." But marketing food that fits a certain dietary style is not without risks, and many companies now face the question of whether they are better off forming a partnership with a name-brand diet or going it alone. "There is a debate in the industry about whether you want to live and die by a diet's fortunes, or if you want to stay more generic," said John S. Glass, a restaurant analyst at CIBC World Markets in Boston. "Using a branded association immediately gets you more notice, but it also limits your appeal." The high-protein crowd received an unexpected scare with the recent announcement that a cow in the United States was found to have mad cow disease. Depending on the extent of the problem, diets that encourage the consumption of red meat could become less popular. Seventy percent of Americans are expressing some concern about mad cow disease, according to a survey on food safety conducted in late December by NPD, which has been tracking food trends since 1980. "There is clearly great concern about this, but as for a change in behavior, I think that depends on how many cows get sick," said Harry Balzer, vice president of NPD. "If the bovine bonfires of Great Britain come to the United States, you'll see a significant drop in meat consumption. But if it is like Canada with only one cow, I don't think it will have a major impact." Mr. Balzer said he did not see a single infected cow as a threat to the low-carb craze. "Americans are still going to want to lose weight, and this is the hot diet," he said. "It could cause a shift in the meat component and drive people more towards poultry or pork." M.r.A. Friday's, owned by Carlson Restaurants Worldwide, is betting that low-carb diets will stick around. Last month, it announced a partnership with Atkins Nutritionals Inc. and began serving Atkins-approved menu items at its more than 520 American restaurants. WE see really significant rewards in using the Atkins name because we're creating a lot of trust," said Mike Archer, executive vice president and chief operating officer of T.G.I. Friday's. "Low-carb is on fire right now, it's the thing that everybody is talking about, and we think that it can be a considerable part of our business." The Atkins-inspired dishes include Tuscan spinach dip, sizzling chicken with broccoli and grilled chicken Caesar salad. Consumer research at T.G.I. Friday's found that 19 percent of those who dine often at casual restaurants like Friday's are using the Atkins approach. "We're trying to change perceptions of the brand," Mr. Archer said, "to show that you can go out to a T.G.I. Friday's and have one of our indulgent items, but you also have some healthy low-carb options." At T.G.I. Friday's, two of the nine "Atkin's approved" menu items are made with beef. "We're continuing to monitor the situation," said Amy Freshwater, a spokeswoman for the chain. "But we have not seen any change in our guests' dining habits, and we don't anticipate that we will." Atkins Nutritionals, the private company founded by Dr. Robert C. Atkins, who published his first low-carb diet book in 1972 and died last year after slipping on ice, is looking beyond its 129 grocery-store products for ways to capitalize on its widespread name recognition. "We are looking at working with a few different channels of the restaurant industry to offer more options to our user base," said Matt Wiant, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for the company. Rather than entering partnerships, some restaurant chains - including M.s. Chang's China Bistro, Ruby Tuesday and KFC, part of Yum Brands - are rolling out low-carb versions of their existing menus. Even Panera Bread, a bakery cafe chain with 550 outlets, has three low-carb breads in development. In December, Hardee's and Carl's Jr. began selling a bunless, lettuce-wrapped hamburger. The Carl's Jr. version has only 6 grams of carbohydrates, compared with 61 for a burger with a bun. "We did look into doing a partnership, but we decided against it," said Andy Puzder, president and chief executive of CKE Restaurants Inc. in Carpinteria, Calif., which owns both chains. "When you partner with these guys, it becomes a complex and expensive process. We'd rather keep prices down and keep control of our product. And it was easy for us to roll out because it wasn't a big investment. We didn't bring anything new into the restaurants." Even the beer industry has recognized a new market. In September 2002, Anheuser-Busch introduced a low-carb brew, Michelob Ultra; last month, the company said that the brand had a 2.1 percent share of supermarket beer sales. Rolling Rock, from Labatt USA, has Rock Green Light, and the Adolph Coors Company will introduce a low-carb version, Aspen Edge, in March. But some industry analysts say they are already tired of a trend that they see as eventually going the way of the low-fat, low-salt and low-caffeine fads of the past two decades. "Everybody is falling all over themselves," Mr. Balzer of NPD said. "But the issue here is staying power." But will low-carb diets be as important as they are now? "No way, absolutely not," he said. "It's going to follow low-fat." Productscan Online, a firm in Naples, N.Y., that tracks new packaged products, says that at the peak of the low-fat diet craze, one-quarter of all manufactured food was designated as low fat. In 2003, low-carb products had 3.4 percent of the market. More than 600 such products were introduced in 2003, compared with 339 in 2002 and 47 in 1999. "It had been percolating under the radar for most of the 1990's; then everyone jumped on the bandwagon in the past year," said Tom Vierhile, executive editor of Productscan. "These products have been selling well and there is still money to be made in low-carb, but I think it will peter out pretty quickly. I just think that this is another fad diet. "Companies getting into the game in 2004 are going to be sorry," he added. "Trends that get hot this fast tend to go cold fast, too." According to NPD, 27 percent of all American adults are trying some kind of diet. As of February 2003, 1 percent were on a low-carb diet; by August, that share had risen to 3.5 percent. "Everyone I can think of is jumping on the bandwagon," said Mr. Glass, the CIBC analyst. "Will it last? That is the core question that everyone in the analyst community is asking." Mt. Rotbart of LowCarbiz said that sales of low-carb products would exceed $15 billion for 2003. "But at some point, you reach a ceiling," he said. "In this country, we have another year, maybe 18 months of the low-carb craze, but in the end, that is a fixed number. And one of the problems that Atkins has is that Atkins himself can no longer adjust it." Others may be ready to fill the void created by Dr. Atkins's death. This spring, John Wiley & Sons will release "The Hamptons Diet: Lose Weight Quickly and Safely With the Doctor's Delicious Meal Plans," written by Fred Pescatore, a doctor who worked at the Atkins Center. Some restaurant companies are in partnerships with brand-name diet plans, but not those that emphasize low carbs. Last July, Applebee's International announced a five-year partnership with Weight Watchers International. "They are a dominant, enduring brand," John Cywinski, the chief marketing officer of Applebee's, said of Weight Watchers. "This is not a diet. This is a brand that transcends fads, age and sex. In our opinion, it will be the only enduring long-term health and weight-loss initiative." Some people say restaurant and food companies should not be associated with any plan, even a tried-and-true one. "If I were a national chain, I wouldn't want to be linked to one particular diet," said Mr. Rotbart of LowCarbiz. "I'd want to be flexible." He said that he thought Friday's was making a mistake in partnering with Atkins. "The low-carb diet du jour is going to change," he said. But executives at T.G.I. Friday's said they had no worries that Atkins was just another trend. "Atkins has been around for 20 years and it is continuing to build momentum," Mr. Archer said. "If this is a fad, it's the biggest fad that I've ever seen in my life."
Answers:
I'm all in favor of people "making a buck" by selling food that doesn't push my blood sugar up to where it ruins my meal. I'm not so crazy about the use of the Atkins branding for these foods, or the use of the bogus "net carbs" count which can deliver nasty surprises to someone with diabetes who is counting carbs. But compared to how things were five years ago when I started low carbing, it's pure heaven. I can still remember trying to explain to the waitress that YES, I was on a diet, and NO that did not mean I wanted the "low fat" sugar syrup salad dressing on my salad or the special "dieters'" pasta entree. And no I wasn't going to destroy my kidneys eating "all that protein" no matter what the waitress' mother's friend's doctor had said. Now if only the Chinese restaurants would start offering truly low carb choices! -- Jenny - Low Carbing for 4 years. At goal for weight. Type II diabetes, hba1c 5.2. Cut the carbs to respond to my email address! Low carb facts and figures, my weight-loss photos, tips, recipes and more at http://www.geocities.com/jenny_the_bean/ Looking for help controlling your blood sugar? Visit http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/Newly%20Diagnosed.htm <markd~toad-net.com wrote in message news:3ff8088b$0$35836$4d5ecec7~reader.city-net.com... If there is a buck to be made, someone will sell it: NY Times _________________________________________________________- ________ January 4, 2004 Restaurant Chains, Too, Watch Their Carbs By JULIE DUNN FOR many Americans, a new year means a diet, and in 2004, there is a good chance that it's a low-carbohydrate, high-protein one. More than 10 million people are following a low-carb regimen like the Atkins diet, the Zone or the South Beach diet, according to the NPD Group, a market research company in Chicago. Recognizing the size of the trend, nearly every part of the food industry, from manufacturers to restaurant chains, has introduced low-carb products. "We're just seeing the leading edge of this, but low-carb is becoming ubiquitous," said Dean Rotbart, executive editor of LowCarbiz, a trade newsletter that started last July and is based in Denver. "Atkins has become something like Kleenex is to facial tissue." But marketing food that fits a certain dietary style is not without risks, and many companies now face the question of whether they are better off forming a partnership with a name-brand diet or going it alone. "There is a debate in the industry about whether you want to live and die by a diet's fortunes, or if you want to stay more generic," said John S. Glass, a restaurant analyst at CIBC World Markets in Boston. "Using a branded association immediately gets you more notice, but it also limits your appeal." The high-protein crowd received an unexpected scare with the recent announcement that a cow in the United States was found to have mad cow disease. Depending on the extent of the problem, diets that encourage the consumption of red meat could become less popular. Seventy percent of Americans are expressing some concern about mad cow disease, according to a survey on food safety conducted in late December by NPD, which has been tracking food trends since 1980. "There is clearly great concern about this, but as for a change in behavior, I think that depends on how many cows get sick," said Harry Balzer, vice president of NPD. "If the bovine bonfires of Great Britain come to the United States, you'll see a significant drop in meat consumption. But if it is like Canada with only one cow, I don't think it will have a major impact." Mr. Balzer said he did not see a single infected cow as a threat to the low-carb craze. "Americans are still going to want to lose weight, and this is the hot diet," he said. "It could cause a shift in the meat component and drive people more towards poultry or pork." T.G.I. Friday's, owned by Carlson Restaurants Worldwide, is betting that low-carb diets will stick around. Last month, it announced a partnership with Atkins Nutritionals Inc. and began serving Atkins-approved menu items at its more than 520 American restaurants. WE see really significant rewards in using the Atkins name because we're creating a lot of trust," said Mike Archer, executive vice president and chief operating officer of T.G.I. Friday's. "Low-carb is on fire right now, it's the thing that everybody is talking about, and we think that it can be a considerable part of our business." The Atkins-inspired dishes include Tuscan spinach dip, sizzling chicken with broccoli and grilled chicken Caesar salad. Consumer research at T.G.I. Friday's found that 19 percent of those who dine often at casual restaurants like Friday's are using the Atkins approach. "We're trying to change perceptions of the brand," Mr. Archer said, "to show that you can go out to a T.G.I. Friday's and have one of our indulgent items, but you also have some healthy low-carb options." At T.G.I. Friday's, two of the nine "Atkin's approved" menu items are made with beef. "We're continuing to monitor the situation," said Amy Freshwater, a spokeswoman for the chain. "But we have not seen any change in our guests' dining habits, and we don't anticipate that we will." Atkins Nutritionals, the private company founded by Dr. Robert C. Atkins, who published his first low-carb diet book in 1972 and died last year after slipping on ice, is looking beyond its 129 grocery-store products for ways to capitalize on its widespread name recognition. "We are looking at working with a few different channels of the restaurant industry to offer more options to our user base," said Matt Wiant, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for the company. Rather than entering partnerships, some restaurant chains - including P.F. Chang's China Bistro, Ruby Tuesday and KFC, part of Yum Brands - are rolling out low-carb versions of their existing menus. Even Panera Bread, a bakery cafe chain with 550 outlets, has three low-carb breads in development. In December, Hardee's and Carl's Jr. began selling a bunless, lettuce-wrapped hamburger. The Carl's Jr. version has only 6 grams of carbohydrates, compared with 61 for a burger with a bun. "We did look into doing a partnership, but we decided against it," said Andy Puzder, president and chief executive of CKE Restaurants Inc. in Carpinteria, Calif., which owns both chains. "When you partner with these guys, it becomes a complex and expensive process. We'd rather keep prices down and keep control of our product. And it was easy for us to roll out because it wasn't a big investment. We didn't bring anything new into the restaurants." Even the beer industry has recognized a new market. In September 2002, Anheuser-Busch introduced a low-carb brew, Michelob Ultra; last month, the company said that the brand had a 2.1 percent share of supermarket beer sales. Rolling Rock, from Labatt USA, has Rock Green Light, and the Adolph Coors Company will introduce a low-carb version, Aspen Edge, in March. But some industry analysts say they are already tired of a trend that they see as eventually going the way of the low-fat, low-salt and low-caffeine fads of the past two decades. "Everybody is falling all over themselves," Mr. Balzer of NPD said. "But the issue here is staying power." But will low-carb diets be as important as they are now? "No way, absolutely not," he said. "It's going to follow low-fat." Productscan Online, a firm in Naples, N.Y., that tracks new packaged products, says that at the peak of the low-fat diet craze, one-quarter of all manufactured food was designated as low fat. In 2003, low-carb products had 3.4 percent of the market. More than 600 such products were introduced in 2003, compared with 339 in 2002 and 47 in 1999. "It had been percolating under the radar for most of the 1990's; then everyone jumped on the bandwagon in the past year," said Tom Vierhile, executive editor of Productscan. "These products have been selling well and there is still money to be made in low-carb, but I think it will peter out pretty quickly. I just think that this is another fad diet. "Companies getting into the game in 2004 are going to be sorry," he added. "Trends that get hot this fast tend to go cold fast, too." According to NPD, 27 percent of all American adults are trying some kind of diet. As of February 2003, 1 percent were on a low-carb diet; by August, that share had risen to 3.5 percent. "Everyone I can think of is jumping on the bandwagon," said Mr. Glass, the CIBC analyst. "Will it last? That is the core question that everyone in the analyst community is asking." Mr. Rotbart of LowCarbiz said that sales of low-carb products would exceed $15 billion for 2003. "But at some point, you reach a ceiling," he said. "In this country, we have another year, maybe 18 months of the low-carb craze, but in the end, that is a fixed number. And one of the problems that Atkins has is that Atkins himself can no longer adjust it." Others may be ready to fill the void created by Dr. Atkins's death. This spring, John Wiley & Sons will release "The Hamptons Diet: Lose Weight Quickly and Safely With the Doctor's Delicious Meal Plans," written by Fred Pescatore, a doctor who worked at the Atkins Center. Some restaurant companies are in partnerships with brand-name diet plans, but not those that emphasize low carbs. Last July, Applebee's International announced a five-year partnership with Weight Watchers International. "They are a dominant, enduring brand," John Cywinski, the chief marketing officer of Applebee's, said of Weight Watchers. "This is not a diet. This is a brand that transcends fads, age and sex. In our opinion, it will be the only enduring long-term health and weight-loss initiative." Some people say restaurant and food companies should not be associated with any plan, even a tried-and-true one. "If I were a national chain, I wouldn't want to be linked to one particular diet," said Mr. Rotbart of LowCarbiz. "I'd want to be flexible." He said that he thought Friday's was making a mistake in partnering with Atkins. "The low-carb diet du jour is going to change," he said. But executives at T.G.I. Friday's said they had no worries that Atkins was just another trend. "Atkins has been around for 20 years and it is continuing to build momentum," Mr. Archer said. "If this is a fad, it's the biggest fad that I've ever seen in my life."
Answers:
Being in the restraunt/bar/nightclub biz ,for all my working life other than two brief excursions away from it, I know how fast they try to follow trends. As usual they are too lame, too late. 3% of the population says they are on a diet, that over history, has proven not to be followed for a long period of time. Next year at this time, this fad will be long gone too. In the meantime, I should go try to find a chi chi Cigar/Martini bar......Can't find any? Another one bites the dust. The key to a successful sit down restaurant in the US is, consistently good, fresh, "American Style" food, with an emphasis on local cuisine, at consistently good prices, with an attentive, well trained wait staff. Sounds simple. Believe me, it ain't. Sleepy On 04 Jan 2004 12:35:23 GMT, markd~toad-net.com wrote: If there is a buck to be made, someone will sell it: NY Times ________________________________________________________- _________ January 4, 2004 Restaurant Chains, Too, Watch Their Carbs By JULIE DUNN FOR many Americans, a new year means a diet, and in 2004, there is a good chance that it's a low-carbohydrate, high-protein one. More than 10 million people are following a low-carb regimen like the Atkins diet, the Zone or the South Beach diet, according to the NPD Group, a market research company in Chicago. Recognizing the size of the trend, nearly every part of the food industry, from manufacturers to restaurant chains, has introduced low-carb products. "We're just seeing the leading edge of this, but low-carb is becoming ubiquitous," said Dean Rotbart, executive editor of LowCarbiz, a trade newsletter that started last July and is based in Denver. "Atkins has become something like Kleenex is to facial tissue." But marketing food that fits a certain dietary style is not without risks, and many companies now face the question of whether they are better off forming a partnership with a name-brand diet or going it alone. "There is a debate in the industry about whether you want to live and die by a diet's fortunes, or if you want to stay more generic," said John S. Glass, a restaurant analyst at CIBC World Markets in Boston. "Using a branded association immediately gets you more notice, but it also limits your appeal." The high-protein crowd received an unexpected scare with the recent announcement that a cow in the United States was found to have mad cow disease. Depending on the extent of the problem, diets that encourage the consumption of red meat could become less popular. Seventy percent of Americans are expressing some concern about mad cow disease, according to a survey on food safety conducted in late December by NPD, which has been tracking food trends since 1980. "There is clearly great concern about this, but as for a change in behavior, I think that depends on how many cows get sick," said Harry Balzer, vice president of NPD. "If the bovine bonfires of Great Britain come to the United States, you'll see a significant drop in meat consumption. But if it is like Canada with only one cow, I don't think it will have a major impact." Mr. Balzer said he did not see a single infected cow as a threat to the low-carb craze. "Americans are still going to want to lose weight, and this is the hot diet," he said. "It could cause a shift in the meat component and drive people more towards poultry or pork." T.G.I. Friday's, owned by Carlson Restaurants Worldwide, is betting that low-carb diets will stick around. Last month, it announced a partnership with Atkins Nutritionals Inc. and began serving Atkins-approved menu items at its more than 520 American restaurants. WE see really significant rewards in using the Atkins name because we're creating a lot of trust," said Mike Archer, executive vice president and chief operating officer of T.G.I. Friday's. "Low-carb is on fire right now, it's the thing that everybody is talking about, and we think that it can be a considerable part of our business." The Atkins-inspired dishes include Tuscan spinach dip, sizzling chicken with broccoli and grilled chicken Caesar salad. Consumer research at T.G.I. Friday's found that 19 percent of those who dine often at casual restaurants like Friday's are using the Atkins approach. "We're trying to change perceptions of the brand," Mr. Archer said, "to show that you can go out to a T.G.I. Friday's and have one of our indulgent items, but you also have some healthy low-carb options." At T.G.I. Friday's, two of the nine "Atkin's approved" menu items are made with beef. "We're continuing to monitor the situation," said Amy Freshwater, a spokeswoman for the chain. "But we have not seen any change in our guests' dining habits, and we don't anticipate that we will." Atkins Nutritionals, the private company founded by Dr. Robert C. Atkins, who published his first low-carb diet book in 1972 and died last year after slipping on ice, is looking beyond its 129 grocery-store products for ways to capitalize on its widespread name recognition. "We are looking at working with a few different channels of the restaurant industry to offer more options to our user base," said Matt Wiant, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for the company. Rather than entering partnerships, some restaurant chains - including P.F. Chang's China Bistro, Ruby Tuesday and KFC, part of Yum Brands - are rolling out low-carb versions of their existing menus. Even Panera Bread, a bakery cafe chain with 550 outlets, has three low-carb breads in development. In December, Hardee's and Carl's Jr. began selling a bunless, lettuce-wrapped hamburger. The Carl's Jr. version has only 6 grams of carbohydrates, compared with 61 for a burger with a bun. "We did look into doing a partnership, but we decided against it," said Andy Puzder, president and chief executive of CKE Restaurants Inc. in Carpinteria, Calif., which owns both chains. "When you partner with these guys, it becomes a complex and expensive process. We'd rather keep prices down and keep control of our product. And it was easy for us to roll out because it wasn't a big investment. We didn't bring anything new into the restaurants." Even the beer industry has recognized a new market. In September 2002, Anheuser-Busch introduced a low-carb brew, Michelob Ultra; last month, the company said that the brand had a 2.1 percent share of supermarket beer sales. Rolling Rock, from Labatt USA, has Rock Green Light, and the Adolph Coors Company will introduce a low-carb version, Aspen Edge, in March. But some industry analysts say they are already tired of a trend that they see as eventually going the way of the low-fat, low-salt and low-caffeine fads of the past two decades. "Everybody is falling all over themselves," Mr. Balzer of NPD said. "But the issue here is staying power." But will low-carb diets be as important as they are now? "No way, absolutely not," he said. "It's going to follow low-fat." Productscan Online, a firm in Naples, N.Y., that tracks new packaged products, says that at the peak of the low-fat diet craze, one-quarter of all manufactured food was designated as low fat. In 2003, low-carb products had 3.4 percent of the market. More than 600 such products were introduced in 2003, compared with 339 in 2002 and 47 in 1999. "It had been percolating under the radar for most of the 1990's; then everyone jumped on the bandwagon in the past year," said Tom Vierhile, executive editor of Productscan. "These products have been selling well and there is still money to be made in low-carb, but I think it will peter out pretty quickly. I just think that this is another fad diet. "Companies getting into the game in 2004 are going to be sorry," he added. "Trends that get hot this fast tend to go cold fast, too." According to NPD, 27 percent of all American adults are trying some kind of diet. As of February 2003, 1 percent were on a low-carb diet; by August, that share had risen to 3.5 percent. "Everyone I can think of is jumping on the bandwagon," said Mr. Glass, the CIBC analyst. "Will it last? That is the core question that everyone in the analyst community is asking." Mr. Rotbart of LowCarbiz said that sales of low-carb products would exceed $15 billion for 2003. "But at some point, you reach a ceiling," he said. "In this country, we have another year, maybe 18 months of the low-carb craze, but in the end, that is a fixed number. And one of the problems that Atkins has is that Atkins himself can no longer adjust it." Others may be ready to fill the void created by Dr. Atkins's death. This spring, John Wiley & Sons will release "The Hamptons Diet: Lose Weight Quickly and Safely With the Doctor's Delicious Meal Plans," written by Fred Pescatore, a doctor who worked at the Atkins Center. Some restaurant companies are in partnerships with brand-name diet plans, but not those that emphasize low carbs. Last July, Applebee's International announced a five-year partnership with Weight Watchers International. "They are a dominant, enduring brand," John Cywinski, the chief marketing officer of Applebee's, said of Weight Watchers. "This is not a diet. This is a brand that transcends fads, age and sex. In our opinion, it will be the only enduring long-term health and weight-loss initiative." Some people say restaurant and food companies should not be associated with any plan, even a tried-and-true one. "If I were a national chain, I wouldn't want to be linked to one particular diet," said Mr. Rotbart of LowCarbiz. "I'd want to be flexible." He said that he thought Friday's was making a mistake in partnering with Atkins. "The low-carb diet du jour is going to change," he said. But executives at T.G.I. Friday's said they had no worries that Atkins was just another trend. "Atkins has been around for 20 years and it is continuing to build momentum," Mr. Archer said. "If this is a fad, it's the biggest fad that I've ever seen in my life." ----------------------------------------------------------- You can tell those republicans sure do like the poor folks, They just keep helping create more and more of them! -----------------------------------------------------------
Answers:
Along those lines, this is from www.subway.com: "On December 29, Subway® Restaurants will offer two Atkins® Nutritionals, Inc.-endorsed low-carbohydrate wraps: the Turkey and Bacon Melt Wrap, with Monterey cheddar cheese, and the Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap, with Swiss cheese. Both Atkins® -Friendly Wraps, available in the U.S. and Canada, have 11 grams Net Carbs or less, and the wrap itself, which is made with wheat gluten, cornstarch, oat, sesame flour and soy protein, has only 5 grams Net Carbs." John Baltimore
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In article <3ff82b73$0$6782$61fed72c~news.rcn.com, "Jenny" <lottadatacarbs~hotmail.com writes: Now if only the Chinese restaurants would start offering truly low carb choices! -- Jenny Jenny talk to your local chinese restaurant.. Many will adjust foods for you.. Mine does.. They put the dressing on the side.. They will make the sauces with very little starch, if any.. You have to ask.. As always YMMV and this is JMO Jeanne Type 2 Diagnosed 05/28/02 189/154/120
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Jeanne, The staff at the two Chinese restaurants in our small town are very friendly but their grasp of English is weak bordering on nonexistant. I have been trying for months to get them to bring the spareribs which I eat as my entree at the same time as my Sweetie's main course rather than as a separate appetizer course. It has yet to happen. Attempts to elicit what is in a specific dish haven't gotten any further than an enthusiastic "Chicken. Very Good!" "Fish. You like!" I shudder to think what would happen were I to try to ask them to eliminate starch and sugar from a dish. OTOH, their spareribs, though a bit sugary, are the best I've had since I was a kid in NYC. -- Jenny - Low Carbing for 4 years. At goal for weight. Type II diabetes, hba1c 5.2. Cut the carbs to respond to my email address! Low carb facts and figures, my weight-loss photos, tips, recipes and more at http://www.geocities.com/jenny_the_bean/ Looking for help controlling your blood sugar? Visit http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/Newly%20Diagnosed.htm "Jmmbear" <jmmbear~aol.com wrote in message news:20040104133611.22081.00003103~mb-m17.aol.com... In article <3ff82b73$0$6782$61fed72c~news.rcn.com, "Jenny" <lottadatacarbs~hotmail.com writes: Now if only the Chinese restaurants would start offering truly low carb choices! -- Jenny Jenny talk to your local chinese restaurant.. Many will adjust foods for you.. Mine does.. They put the dressing on the side.. They will make the sauces with very little starch, if any.. You have to ask.. As always YMMV and this is JMO Jeanne Type 2 Diagnosed 05/28/02 189/154/120
Answers:
This is the best time to have diabetes. I dont care how much money people make, Having choices when eating out is a wonderful idea. Of course, it was designed for diabetics, it was designed for all those on low carb Atkins type diet. But hey, I will join the bandwagon. I think it is great. We now have more choices, more varieties, better tasting food than ever before. Loretta -- In tribute to the United States of America and the State of Israel, two bastions of strength in a world filled with strife and terrorism.
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Jeanne, Your suggestion reminds me of something that happened years ago. A friend from California was a big fan of real Chinese food and had gotten someone in his favorite San Francisco restaurant to write down, in Chinese, the name of a sauce he particularly enjoyed. Then he moved to Dallas. So the next time we ate Chinese, when the waiter came, my friend pulled out the paper with the Chinese characters and handed it to the waiter. The waiter looked kind of confused, so my friend explained that this was his favorite sauce. The waiter looked at the paper again, nodded, smiled, and came back five minutes later very proudly holding a bottle of ketchup. We assumed that he figured that was every white guy's favorite sauce. <g. -- Jenny - Low Carbing for 4 years. At goal for weight. Type 2 diabetes, hba1c 5.2. Cut the carbs to respond to my email address! Low carb facts and figures, my weight-loss photos, tips, recipes and more at http://www.geocities.com/jenny_the_bean/ Looking for help controlling your blood sugar? Visit http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/Newly%20Diagnosed.htm
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Jenny <lottadatacarbs~hotmail.com wrote: : Jeanne, : The staff at the two Chinese restaurants in our small town : are very friendly but their grasp of English is weak : bordering on nonexistant. : I have been trying for months to get them to bring the : spareribs which I eat as my entree at the same time as my : Sweetie's main course rather than as a separate appetizer : course. It has yet to happen. Attempts to elicit what is in : a specific dish haven't gotten any further than an : enthusiastic "Chicken. Very Good!" "Fish. You like!" : I shudder to think what would happen were I to try to ask : them to eliminate starch and sugar from a dish. OTOH, their : spareribs, though a bit sugary, are the best I've had since : I was a kid in NYC. : -- Jenny - Low Carbing for 4 years. At goal for weight. Type : II diabetes, I have had at wonderful piece of luck. At the local Chinese restaurant I usually eat in, I have befriended one of the hostesses, who had been instrumental in letting me know that I could order dishes without sornstarch or sugar and often warned me off of dishes that had hidden carbs. We go tfriendly and she has written a message for me in Chinese saying that I am diabetic and cannot have cornstarch or sugar in my food. This is for me to use when I am out of town.(or at least the neighborhood.) It works and causes quite a bit of comment from the wait staff at restaurants. The all rush over to see this and seem to love the idea. Irene, my hostess friend, told me that often the wait people just don't have enough English to get beyond Brown rice or sauce on the side. See if anyone where you regularly eat could help you. If the wait person can't understand, maybe someone at the desk, who is used to taking phone orders, etc, can help you. Also, as far as the cornstarch is concerned, it is quite esy to tell if they have understook, as the sauce will be liquid, y and the food will not be shiney. Wendy
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Jenny wrote: Jeanne, The staff at the two Chinese restaurants in our small town are very friendly but their grasp of English is weak bordering on nonexistant. A very good Chinese restaurant near my home is run by a couple of friends of mine. They act as sponsors for members of their family and relatives of their friends, giving new arrivals work in the restaurant while they learn English and get settled in the US. Often the waiters, busboys and cooks are well educated, and soon move on to better paying jobs they were trained for. Sometimes they actually bring in a Chinese trained chef, and thats really delightful. -- K'neH'a'Iw Uncloaking, Shields up.
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Wendy, It is worth a try! I'll see if perhaps the woman at the counter who takes the phone orders can understand what I'm asking. Everyone in the restaurant is very pleasant awhich is another reason why I like to eat there. But the inevitable blood sugar rush is a problem, particularly since Precose which is what buffers my usual restaurant excursions doesn't work with corn starch. -- Jenny - Low Carbing for 4 years. At goal for weight. Type 2 diabetes, hba1c 5.2. Cut the carbs to respond to my email address! Low carb facts and figures, my weight-loss photos, tips, recipes and more at http://www.geocities.com/jenny_the_bean/ Looking for help controlling your blood sugar? Visit http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/Newly%20Diagnosed.htm "W. Baker" <wbaker~panix.com wrote in message news:btcidg$k8s$1~reader2.panix.com... Jenny <lottadatacarbs~hotmail.com wrote: : Jeanne, : The staff at the two Chinese restaurants in our small town : are very friendly : but their grasp of English is weak bordering on : nonexistant. : I have been trying for months to get them to bring the : spareribs which I eat : as my entree at the same time as my Sweetie's main course : rather than as a : separate appetizer course. It has yet to happen. Attempts : to elicit what : is in a specific dish haven't gotten any further than an : enthusiastic "Chicken. Very Good!" "Fish. You like!" : I shudder to think what would happen were I to try to ask : them to eliminate : starch and sugar from a dish. OTOH, their spareribs, : though a bit sugary, : are the best I've had since I was a kid in NYC. : -- Jenny - Low Carbing for 4 years. At goal for weight. : Type II diabetes, I have had at wonderful piece of luck. At the local Chinese restaurant I usually eat in, I have befriended one of the hostesses, who had been instrumental in letting me know that I could order dishes without sornstarch or sugar and often warned me off of dishes that had hidden carbs. We go tfriendly and she has written a message for me in Chinese saying that I am diabetic and cannot have cornstarch or sugar in my food. This is for me to use when I am out of town.(or at least the neighborhood.) It works and causes quite a bit of comment from the wait staff at restaurants. The all rush over to see this and seem to love the idea. Irene, my hostess friend, told me that often the wait people just don't have enough English to get beyond Brown rice or sauce on the side. See if anyone where you regularly eat could help you. If the wait person can't understand, maybe someone at the desk, who is used to taking phone orders, etc, can help you. Also, as far as the cornstarch is concerned, it is quite esy to tell if they have understook, as the sauce will be liquid, y and the food will not be shiney. Wendy
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In article <27716-3FF9860B-354~storefull-3232.bay.webtv.net, Ronetta~webtv.net (Loretta Eisenberg) writes: This is the best time to have diabetes. I dont care how much money people make, Having choices when eating out is a wonderful idea. Of course, it was designed for diabetics, it was designed for all those on low carb Atkins type diet. But hey, I will join the bandwagon. I think it is great. We now have more choices, more varieties, better tasting food than ever before. Loretta Loretta I totally agree.. Applebees teamed up with Weight watchers... I dont follow weight watchers, but with the points clearly listed you can pick and choose what works for you.. Same as the others, knowing they havent snuck anything in.. I love it.. As always YMMV and this is JMO Jeanne Type 2 Diagnosed 05/28/02 189/154/120