http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/13/dining/13DIET.html?ex=1038336172&ei=1&en=b
4f18960a0f793d2

Waiter, Are There Carbs in My Soup?

November 13, 2002
By JULIA MOSKIN

"I'LL have the bacon appetizer, then the porterhouse for
two with creamed spinach."
"The pâté de campagne, then roast lamb with béarnaise and
the cheese plate."
"Lobster bisque, please, and the triple lamb chops."
"Gimme three steaks and a Michelob Ultra."

Not long ago, New York City waiters would have interpreted
dinner orders like these as signs of impending excess: a
let's-throw-caution-to-the-wind celebration of a birthday,
a bachelor party or a big deal. Not now. This is the new
diet food.

New York City restaurants are being swarmed by a
fat-seeking, protein-craving army. Local dieters are
flocking to low-carbohydrate eating plans that prohibit all
potatoes, pasta, bread and sugar, but seem to offer
unlimited access to eggs, cheese, red meat and butter. It's
a tantalizing prospect: weight loss without any hunger or
deprivation.

"These diets offer lots of small victories," said Itamar
Kubovy, a film director who has dropped 16 pounds in four
months on the plan. "When I can go out and have a Caesar
salad full of cheese and garlic and olive oil, I'm not
exactly dying for the croutons."

Since Dr. Robert C. Atkins published "Diet Revolution" in
1972, his low-carbohydrate, high-protein, fat-friendly
program and its cousins (among them the Zone, Stillman,
Sugar Busters and Protein Power) have come in and out of
fashion. But recently the low-carb principles have been
embraced with new fervor. "I'd say most of my customers and
half of my staff are doing some version of Atkins," said
Reed Goldstein, general manager of Angelo & Maxie's
steakhouse on Park Avenue South. He added that the
restaurant was doing a brisk business in Michelob Ultra, a
beer rolled out by Anheuser-Busch that is specifically
targeted to carb watchers.

Brian Bistrong, who took over the kitchen at Citarella in
Midtown last July, said he had virtually eliminated
starches from the elegant seafood-based menu. "My customers
don't want it on the plate," he said, adding that
carb-deprived diners can request side dishes of spaetzle or
polenta.

The diets work on the principle that when the body is
deprived of sufficient carbohydrates, which it generally
converts to glucose and burns as fuel, it will turn to
stores of fat to burn instead, a condition known as
ketosis.

"Low carb is definitely the It diet of the moment," agreed
Lambeth Hochwald, a health writer in Manhattan.

It is also the most controversial. Among its sworn enemies
are Dr. Dean Ornish, the guru of the high-fiber, low-fat
crowd that Atkins has if not replaced then at least
battered; Dr. Neil Barnard, president of the Physicians'
Committee for Responsible Medicine; the American Heart
Association; the American Kidney Fund; and the American
Dietetic Association. All cite the long-term health
concerns of high-fat diets but concede that the short-term
weight loss benefits are real.

As Dr. Ornish has succinctly put it, "Some people lose
weight on fen-phen, or by smoking cigarettes, but that
doesn't mean it's good for you."

New Yorkers, perhaps unsurprisingly, are grabbing at the
quick fix. Eating out has always been a stumbling block for
dieters. For the last 20 years, following the low-fat diet
that most accepted as the logical (if joyless) approach to
weight loss was nearly impossible in restaurants. As a
token gesture toward health, customers requested "sauce on
the side" or brown rice instead of white with their
high-fat Chinese food. For the would-be slim, meals at
bistros or steakhouses seemed out of the question.

"I eat out virtually every meal," said Jud Ebersman, a real
estate broker in Manhattan who has been on and off the
Atkins plan for the last year and says he has lost 15
pounds. "And no diet has ever worked so well for me." Mr.
Ebersman said that as long as he refuses the breadbasket
altogether and calls for the check instead of dessert it is
surprisingly easy to eat out. "Classic French is the
easiest, because you always know what's in the sauces," he
said. "Indian is great; all that tandoori. Italian is
boring because you always end up eating salad and grilled
chicken. And if there's a good way to eat Chinese, I can't
find it."

"Sauces become very stressful," said Sabine Heller, a
marketing executive. Kitchen staples like onions, tomatoes
and flour are among the ingredients that carb watchers must
monitor vigilantly.

Ms. Heller points out that drinking in restaurants becomes
a challenge. Beer and wine are high in carbohydrates, but
hard liquor is permitted. "You feel a little self-conscious
doing a shot of vodka in a nice restaurant when everyone
else is having a glass of wine before dinner," she said.

Most New York followers of Atkinslike plans quickly abandon
the strict rules about counting carbohydrates and come up
with their own ideas about what they can and can't eat.
Although no plan actually recommends unlimited meat, cheese
and eggs, or absolutely prohibits fruits or vegetables,
dieters say that the easiest way to stick to the low-carb
diet is to cut out certain foods completely and indulge
freely in others. And this is what makes eating out such a
simple proposition.

"When I was on Atkins, it was easy," said Jody Storch, a
vice president of Peter Luger Steak House. "I had a steak
and creamed spinach for lunch every single day." And a year
ago, she said, the restaurant bowed to demand and made a
rare change to its menu, adding an appetizer of broiled
bacon strips that had previously been known only to
long-time regulars. "Now we serve over 400 pounds a week,"
Ms. Storch said. "Low carbers love it here. They can even
have dessert: a bowl of plain whipped cream."

Low-carb dieters are eating enormous quantities of food,
local restaurateurs, diners and dietitians agree. "Guys
come in here and order one steak after another, boom, boom,
boom," said Mr. Goldstein of Angelo & Maxie's. Jack Lamb,
an owner of Jewel Bako, a popular sushi restaurant in the
East Village, said, "You can always tell who the low-carb
people are: they order miso soup and an awful lot of
sashimi, more than you'd think a person would want."

Dieters say that if you're used to eating a lot of bagels,
pasta, pizza and sandwiches, all staples of busy New York
lives, you have to eat large amounts of protein- and
fat-rich food to get the same feeling of fullness. A
three-egg omelet for breakfast, bacon and a big lump of
cheese for lunch, salad and pork chops for dinner, then a
late-night snack of peanut butter is not an unusual day's
menu.

Feeling queasy? You're not alone. "I was in a constant
state of nausea the whole time I did Atkins," said
Elizabeth Bogner, a freelance editor who tried out the plan
last month with her husband, Jesse. "I don't think Dr.
Atkins reckoned with appetites like ours," she added. "We
were having Flintstone-size pieces of meat with cream sauce
every night."

By and large, many New York women seem to find it difficult
to stay on the diet. "Women are so used to the low-fat diet
- I think it's harder for us to eat all those eggs and
steaks," Ms. Storch of Peter Luger said.

"And the bad breath doesn't help either," said Ms.
Hochwald, the health writer, referring to the "ketosis
breath" many dieters experience. (Dr. Atkins recommends
chewing parsley sprigs.)

How far will New Yorkers go to get thin while eating fat?
Are low-carb diets magic, or madness?

"Yes, of course you can eat steak and foie gras and be
thin," said Raba Belkadi, an owner of Soho Steak on
Thompson Street. "We have always known this in France. But
not too much, yes? About eight ounces. This is what the
models eat. They have a green salad and they are thin and
beautiful."