LOS ANGELES - In a town where body worship has been raised to an artform, it figures that restaurants and caterers would find a way tocapitalize on low-fat eating. After you pump and sweat for hours ina gym to buff your body to perfection, it stands to reason that youwouldn't want to undo all that effort with a cheeseburger and fries.
Plus, as every celebrity here knows, the camera adds five to 10pounds to the body, so staying thin is a priority.
Enter the age of the all low-fat; no-fat restaurant. Whatseparates it from its predecessor - the tofu, sprouts and cardboardhealth-food restaurant - is that this approach tries to make low-fatfood taste like the real thing, thereby eliminating that deprivedfeeling that so often goes with a diet. It's a no pain and no gainsituation in which everyone's happy.
Or nearly everyone. Conventional restaurant critics, used tobutter and cream sauces, are horrified. And those who view sugar asa dietary evil are also disappointed in some of the desserts. Whilefat may be all but eliminated, there's sugar aplenty.
But the operative theory here - that it's the fat in food thatmakes you fat - makes sugar a necessary evil. Try taking it all out- the fat and the sugar, and perhaps even the salt and the dairy -and "You might as well just suck on an ice cube," says RichardFreedman, co-owner of a cafe called Gratis, where the food is fat-and preservative-free but may contain sugar or honey.
Planet Earth's chef, Kelly Cline, who worked at the upscaleGolden Door spa in Escondido, Calif., and now caters the new MariluHenner talk show, says that while some lost fat calories in herdishes may be made up with more carbohydrates, over-all caloriecounts are still one-third to one-half lower than comparable dishesfrom a conventional restaurant or bakery.
In a reverse of the usual trend, the dining-out crowd isactually following the lead of the home cook, who already knows thatlow-fat doesn't have to equal low flavor. (Two testimonials to thegrowing cult of good-tasting, low-fat eating are the facts that thecookbook In the Kitchen With Rosie (Alfred A. Knopf, $14.95), byOprah Winfrey's cook, Rosie Daley, still tops best-seller charts, andsupermarkets have been known to ration boxes of savory no-fatSnackWell crackers.)
Most of the cafes catering to the fat-avoidance cult areclustered in the celebrity-studded parts of town - Santa Monica,Beverly Hills, Brentwood and the upscale West Side.
Gratis' nearly guilt-free pizzas, pastas and desserts have madethis Brentwood place popular with celebrities, including SteveMartin, Warren Beatty and Meryl Streep, as well as a sizablecontingent of dieters and bodybuilders. Freedman and his partnersare now negotiating other Sun Belt locations, such as Florida andArizona.
Planet Earth's first full-fledged cafe opened in September onchic Montana Avenue in Santa Monica, but it's coming off a successfultest-run lunch counter smack in the middle of the celebrity-studdedJose Eber hair salon on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Planet Earth'sowners plan on expanding the restaurant throughout SouthernCalifornia, then moving on to points north.
"The goal is to move across the nation," says co-owner CandaceFarrell, who is also a TV producer (her show, "Medicine Ball," is amid-season replacement on Fox). Planet Earth also makes a line ofsuch low-fat products as muffin and pancake mixes and saladdressings. Nearly everything contains less than 10 percent ofcalories from fat.
In an amusing twist, many of the current low-fat restaurantshave an ethnic bent. While regular Mexican and Chinese restaurantstake a bad rap in the media for their incredibly high levels of fat,the same ethnic spices and techniques used in them are exactly what'smaking many low-fat eateries exciting.
The chain of no-frills La Salsa taquerias has found both acelebrity following (Michael Richards, Brett Butler, Jack Lemmon andTom Selleck) and a good measure of success with just regular folks bytaking most of the fat out of Mexican cooking. They use lard-freeproducts, never fry anything and treat cheese as a garnish.
Planet Earth leans heavily on Asian, Greek and Mexican cuisinesfor flavorful salads and main courses.
More time-intensive cooking techniques also give dishes verve.Cline has lots of tricks up her white chef's smock sleeves, includingsimmering foods longer to bring out more flavor.
"You need to marinate poultry to keep moisture," she adds. "Youneed to sear vegetables to bring out flavor." Textures are improved,she says, with nonfat dairy products, arrowroot powder or bananas.
Cline's taste-testing audience was a tough one - her husband."Men are the worst critics," she says. "They want the flavor.They're the biggest skeptics of low-fat food. When I come acrosssomething a man will eat, I know I've succeeded."
Carrie Wiatt, owner of Diet Designs, believes that the secret oftasty low-fat cooking "is the combination of art and science." Herforte is using condiments.
"I use sauces in so many different foods," she says. "Pesto,soy, marinades, fruit sauces, garlic. It's the right mix ofcondiments and seasonings, and knowing how to marry them correctly."
She, too, likes ethnic touches, and sometimes combine severaldiverse traditions - a no-oil stir-fry concoction wrapped in alow-fat tortilla, for example - to get something that is not onlyinteresting, but also meets her guidelines of a moderate 15 to 20percent fat content.
Wiatt's cooking, unfortunately, isn't available in a cafe,though she can boast an enormous celebrity following. Hers is acatering operation that brings the food to one's doorstep.
Actor Dennis Quaid healthfully dropped 43 pounds for his role inthe movie "Wyatt Earp" with her help. (She also monitored his gainback to normal after the film wrapped.) Regular clients with moremoderate tales to tell include Sela Ward, Teri Garr and Kate Capshaw.
There's no cafe in her future, but Wiatt is working on acookbook about her low-fat program and recipes. It will be publishedby Pocketbooks next July. PLANET EARTH'S SOUTHWEST TORTILLA ROLLS WITH PASILLA CHILE SAUCE
1 pound spinach, washed and stemmed
1 cup chopped red onions
1 cup low-fat cream cheese
4 (12-inch) low-fat whole-wheat tortillas (see note)
2 roasted yellow or red bell peppers, cut into julienne strips(see note)
Dipping sauce (recipe follows)
In a hot nonstick skillet, cook spinach in a splash of water,stirring constantly, until it turns dark green, about 1 minute.Remove and drain.
Place onions in the skillet and cook until softened, 2 to 3minutes.
To assemble, spoon a line of cream cheese along the edge of onetortilla, then fold tortilla over cheese. Add a row of spinach andfold again. Add a row of red onions; fold again. Add a row ofpeppers and fold again. Seal seam with a little cream cheese.Repeat process with remaining ingredients until you reach the end ofthe tortilla.
Cut tortilla rolls into 1-inch pieces and stand on their cut endon a serving platter, like sushi.
Serve with dipping sauce.
Makes 4 main-luncheon servings (230 calories and 2.5 grams offat per serving) or 8 to 12 appetizer servings.
Note: Check the package for the fat content of tortillas, as itcan range from 1 gram to 5 grams of fat each. Low-fat flourtortillas can be substituted.
To roast chiles (used in the recipe below) and peppers, holdthem directly over the flame of a gas range or set them under thebroiler until the skins are blackened. Place peppers in a paper bagand seal until the steam created loosens the skins, about 10 minutes.Remove peppers and peel off charred skins. Discard skins, stems andseeds. Dipping sauce
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons chopped shallots
Water
1 cup roasted and peeled pasilla chiles (4 or 5 chiles; seenotes above and below)
6 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Sear garlic and shallots along with 1 tablespoon water in anonstick skillet. Add chiles and 1 cup of water. Add tomatoes,cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heatand simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
Puree mixture in a blender or food processor. Makes about 1 1/2cups.
Note: If pasilla chiles are not available, use equal amounts ofAnaheim chiles and increase the chili powder to taste. If only driedancho pasilla chiles are available, follow package directions andallow several days of soaking time. If all else fails, use roastedred peppers and add cayenne pepper and paprika for bite. DIET DESIGNS' MU SHU CHICKEN ROLL-UPS
1 1/2 pounds chicken breast, skinned and boned
4 tablespoons chicken stock, divided
4 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce, divided
1 teaspoon minced fresh gingerroot
3 teaspoons minced garlic, divided
1 cup diagonally sliced celery
4 carrots, cut into julienne strips
10 cups shredded napa cabbage
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
8 large low-fat whole-wheat tortillas (if unavailable, flourtortillas with 2 grams of fat or less can be substituted)
Plum sauce or mock plum sauce (recipes follow)
Place chicken in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish along with 2tablespoons of chicken stock and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, thegingerroot and 1 teaspoon minced garlic.
Bake, uncovered, in a preheated 350-degree oven until done, 20to 30 minutes depending on thickness of chicken.
Remove from oven and let cool in pan. Discard any juices frompan because they will contain fat cooked off from chicken. Shredchicken and set aside.
Saute celery, carrots and cabbage in remaining 2 tablespoonschicken stock, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons minced garlic andthe pepper just until soft, about 10 minutes.
Add chicken and toss to combine. Remove from heat.
To serve, spread tortillas with plum sauce and fill with chickenmixture, al lowing 1 heaping cup per tortilla. Roll up and serve immediately.
Makes 8 generous servings (350 calories and 5.4 grams of fat perserving). Plum sauce
1 (10-ounce) bottle plum jam
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
Stir together plum jam and soy sauce until well-mixed.
Makes 1 1/2 cups.
Note: Plum jams vary. One brand that works well is Knott'sBerry Farm California Plum Pure Jam. If unavailable, mock plum saucecan be used. Mock plum sauce
8 ounces pitted prunes
1 cup defatted chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh gingerroot
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Place prunes in a bowl and cover with chicken stock. Let standto rehydrate, about 15 minutes.
Puree mixture in a blender or food processor. Add gingerroot,lemon juice and soy sauce; process until smooth.
