At 6 feet, he now weighs 224 pounds. He has worked with more than a dozen chefs on the weight-loss initiative. In some cases, he is merely identifying some of the healthier items already on the menus and suggesting that the wait staff point them out to diners. In other cases, recipes are being revamped to make them healthier. A nutritionist is helping with the effort.
Several chefs are enthusiastic about the changes they've made.
Chef David Grear of La Terrasse, a French bistro, is offering customers an oil-less vinaigrette, replaced some of the butter and cream in his recipes with condensed vegetable purees and made his French onion soup less fattening. Chef Shawn Sollberger of Davio's, a northern Italian steakhouse, is offering a vegetarian pasta, grilled whole fish and grilled vegetables. The menu now offers some leaner cuts of meat, including venison steaks, ostrich meat and beef filets. Sollberger also is encouraging his staff to participate in the weight-loss program. We're serving less fatty foods at our staff meals.