What is an eat smart kitchen?
I am often asked by my guests what it means to eat smart and I have covered that topic
in a recent post. But, a few days ago I
was asked, not to explain the meaning of eat
smart, but rather, how does a restaurant earn the designation of eat smart kitchen. The question
stumped me. It never occurred to me
that marketing the Bull as an eat smart kitchen, the first in the upstate,
might lead someone to believe that there are others. There are not --- not yet!
The development of Beyond
the Bull, an eat smart kitchen,
took years of preparation that included a long and very detailed business plan. As part of the marketing plan to
differentiate the Bull from other
restaurants, I decided to market it as
an eat smart kitchen, a kitchen that
produced food which promotes wellness.
To me, that is eating smart.
Consequently, the kitchen at the Bull
does not look like most restaurant kitchens.
There is limited shelving for canned goods, boxes or bottles, little freezer
space for frozen foods, no storage for sugar or flour and no deep fryer or
microwave. As an eat smart kitchen, the Bull eliminates
refined grains, added sugar and bad fats, the three most harmful ingredients in
the American diet. As an eat smart kitchen, we choose our proteins from those that are hunted, harvested, caught or farmed (if fed their natural diet, not pellets of soy, corn and chicken by-products). As an
eat smart kitchen, we offer menu items that consist of 60% or more of plant based food in our sides, with the center of the plate, and in our salsas and sauces.
This is not an easy feat for a restaurant, especially for one that is independent and still in the start up mode. We restaurateurs are handicapped by the broadliners, the Syscos, the US Foods, the Performance Food Groups who supply us. If the menu does not consist of the ingredients used by all the other restaurants in the territory, you are just NOT going to get what you want, only what THEY want you to have. You need shrimp? Sure, they have it, every size, every color, all farmed (and fed who knows what), and all imported from countries without adequate food safety systems. You need American raised duck meat? Sorry, special order --- grrrrrrr!
But, with perserverance and a lot of legwork over the past three years, Beyond the Bull has been able to find alternatives by going direct to producers such as Dean's Rabbits in Fountain Inn, Carolina Bison in Asheville, Broken Arrow in Texas and the Portland Wharf in Maine. And in a few cases, with the cooperation of a broadliner who can occasionally be convinced to accept a special order, it can be done!
The customer who asked me that question was on to something. How does one earn the designation and what if there were others? What if chefs joined together and
participated in more eat smart kitchens? If more chefs demanded real food ingredients, wouldn't the suppliers follow? So, as of the publication of this post, I am
making it official. I am creating a
universal designation for eat smart
kitchens---restaurant kitchens qualify if devoid of refined grains, added
sugar and bad fats, avoid additives of any kind, source proteins that eat a
natural diet and serve menu items that consist of at least 50 percent
unadulterated plant foods .
Now, all we have to do is come up with a universal logo
which when exhibited, conveys to consumers that behind this door, inside these
four walls, lies an eat smart kitchen.
Any ideas? If so,
send me your concept design for the eat
smart kitchen logo, one that is easy to see from a distance or drive by,
original and identifiable. In the
meantime, eat smart, feel good!
Buon Appetito e Buona Salute, Chef AngelaB
Beyond the Bulll (an "eat
smart" kitchen)
8095 Keowee School Rd., Seneca,
SC 29672
http://antiaginggastronomy.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ChefAngelaB
http://antiaginggastronomy.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ChefAngelaB
