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Consultant tailors lunch menu to fit needs of working diners
By Lynda Exley
When
the powers that be at Bahama Breeze decided to go from a dinner-only concept
to serving lunch, they knew their mid-day meals would have to be exceptional
to attract today’s discerning diners. Merely serving smaller sized dinner
entrees at a reduced price during lunchtime wasn’t going to cut it, which
is why they employed Pam Smith, a nationally known nutrition and wellness
coach, to develop their new menu.
In
addition to authoring books on diet, nutrition and cooking, Smith coaches
the likes of L.A. Lakers’ Shaquille O’Neal and senior pro golfer Larry
Nelson--when she’s not too busy hosting High on Health on The
Health Network by Fox or appearing on CNN, The TV Food Network, The Today
Show, CNBC and Focus on Family.
“I
work to try to stabilize the body to be working at its best, stabilize its
chemistry, get the metabolism boosted up, and do that (by) focusing on
food,” explains Smith. “The right food at the right time.”
Smith
made the leap to menu development when her corporate clients, such as Hyatt
and Darden Restaurants (the parent company for Bahama Breeze), recruited her
to work with chefs to develop their bill of fare. So naturally, Bahama
Breeze turned to Smith to perform her magic on their luncheon menu.
“What
we wanted to do was develop a menu that was really built around the way
people want to – and even need to – eat at lunch. What they don’t want
to do is eat boat sinkers, and go back to the office and either fall asleep
or have to be carried home on a cot,” explains Smith.
Smith
says customers will return from lunch at Bahama Breeze refueled by healthful
food, refreshed, recharged and full of energy. She accomplished that lofty
goal by using “tremendously fresh ingredients” and preparing them in
very progressive ways to bring out the best of flavor.
“Caribbean
inspired is probably the most perfect cuisine for that,” explains Smith.
“Because rather then having to stretch hard to think about how you’re
going to spice something or how you’re going to bring color and flavor in,
the Caribbean has it all, the fresh fruits, the wonderful vegetables, the
unique kinds of spices.”
But
even Smith admits, “We’ve really had this kiss of death attached to food
that is good for us. We think if it’s good (for us), it’s going to taste
like cardboard.”
Not
so at Bahama Breeze. Steve Avery, the restaurant’s general manager
explains. “We have a new soup for instance, Corn and Chicken Chowder.
It’s thickened with potatoes that we put in it with the corn. We cook and
puree it up. The starches and glutens of those two vegetables thicken the
soup. We don’t use cream in any of the soups. We have an oak-grilled
asparagus soup that is really good. It’s thickened with rice.”
“You
don’t have to muck it up, if you will, with a lot of heavy sauces and
fats,” adds Smith. “It’s basically fat free. That’s almost like the
exclamation mark at the end of the sentence. You don’t really know that
when you’re buying it. You just think, ‘my gosh, this is the best
asparagus soup I’ve ever dreamed of.’”
The
same science works for Bahama Breeze’s salad dressings. “We use fresh
fruit juices and Dijon mustard to emulsify the dressing, thereby enabling us
to use a much smaller amount of olive oil than what you would normally
do,” explains Avery.
The
red pepper Caesar dressing on Bahama Breeze’s Grilled & Chilled Double
Caesar with Oak Fired Chicken is a perfect example of Bahama Breeze’s
wizardry with salad dressings. The dressing is tangy with hints of citrus
and mustard, a natural complement to the smoky undertones of oak-grilled
romaine hearts.
Thanks
to Smith’s guidance, instead of building a “healthy” menu on
chemically altered products like lite mayo, fat free sour cream and butter
substitutes, as some restaurants would, her team of chefs made subtle
changes with “real” ingredients that improved the menu’s nutritional
value while enhancing its flavors.
Instead
of the typical store bought, mushy white bun, for example, Bahama Breeze’s
Oak-Fired Angus Burger is served on a homemade corn muffin bun, giving it a
firm, almost crunchy texture. Order it Jamaican style (with pepper-jack
cheese, grilled onions and smoky barbecue sauce) and you’ll be hooked for
life.
The
Sun-Drenched Portobello Vegetable Stack sandwich is loaded with char-grilled
veggies, vine-ripened tomatoes, and Portobello mushrooms. It’s served on
freshly baked Cuban bread with pepper-jack cheese and comes with a side of
Citrus Cous Cous instead of fat-drenched fries. And unlike some side dishes
that are served more for esthetics rather than consumption, the Citrus Cous
Cous is deliciously satisfying—even if you’re not a cold salad person.
It owes its flavor to currants, dried cranberries, papaya, mangos and
cashews, which give it a nice crunch.
When
it comes to seafood, Avery says his chefs are careful not to overcook it,
which keeps it juicy and tender in addition to retaining its valuable
nutrients. According to Avery, many people are uneducated about fish. They
think it must be cooked well to eliminate bacteria, but the key to
“clean” fish is in the handling. He explains that purchasing the
freshest fish possible from reputable sources, storing it at the appropriate
temperature, managing it properly in the kitchen and using their stock up
daily, allows Bahama Breeze to serve it at the optimum temperature with a
moist, soft center.
“So
many people don’t recognize you can go to a place that gives you a very
relaxed, very fun ambiance that (usually) relates to more casual dining, but
experience food that’s just so fabulous you might expect to find it in a
much more expensive, much more formal kind of environment.” says Smith
about Bahama Breeze.
“Most
people don’t realize that it’s chef prepared, house-made. They make
everything from scratch, which is just unheard of in the casual dining
industry.”
You’ll
understand what Smith’s talking about when you check out Bahama Breeze’s
new lunch menu yourself. You’ll want to come back with a friend, but
shhhhhh, don’t tell them it’s healthy until you’ve hooked them too!
Hours:
11 a.m. - 11 p.m. Sun. through Thu., 11 a.m. – midnight Sat. and Sun
Entertainment:
Live entertainment on the air-conditioned gazebo seven nights a week.
Price
range: Lunch: $6.75 to $12.99, Dinner: $6.75 to $19.99, Drink Special:
20-ounce glasses of Aruba Red beer $2.50, daily.
Special
accommodations: Full service catering available. Reservations not
accepted. Kids menu, coloring book and crayons.
7200
W. Ray Road, Chandler. (480) 705-7399. www.bahamabreeze.com.
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