27 Live, a new Evanston spot worth checking out

27 Live is a new restaurant, whiskey lounge, music venue hybrid in Evanston, the Chicago suburb where I live, that’s worth checking out for its food and ability to accommodate a low-salt dinner request.

I was interested in seeing what the operators of 27 Live had done with the space they have. For many years, it housed a Carmen’ pizza place in a cavernous two-story restaurant complete with big staircase and upstairs bar and party area where I spent many an end of the soccer season when I was coaching my son’s AYSO teams years ago. Carmen’s was always a family favorite, even after it downsized a few years ago, turning over part of its space to a Brazilian steakhouse I never got to try out.

Chestnut gnocchi in a brown sugar and bacon sauce was amazing at 27 Live. — Chestnut gnocchi in a brown sugar and bacon sauce was amazing at 27Live.

As always before I dine out these days, I first checked 27 Live’s menu online to see if anything seemed remotely low-sodium and low-fat so I could eat it. I saw a fish dish and a vegetarian option, both of which I thought might be able to fit my needs, so my wife and I went there for dinner to check the new place out. Continue reading “27 Live, a new Evanston spot worth checking out” →

March 26, 2014 2

Embeya for restaurant week? yes, yes, yes

Embeya, a progressive Asian restaurant in Chicago, has quickly become a favorite of mine for its great food and its total openness to making dishes that meet my low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar requirements.

I enjoyed my first visit there so much that I suggested my wife and I dine there with friends. We went at the start of Chicago’s restaurant week, an annual event (running through Feb. 6 this year) during which restaurants offer special menus at special prices to lure Chicagoans out of their warm homes on the coldest winter days and nights.

Embeya is offering either a three course meal for $33 or a four-course meal for $44. We went with the four-course offering and were not disappointed. And while everything was served family style, my portions were served separately since they had less salt, an extra touch I really appreciate.

The first course included an amazing octopus dish that had people at our table who don’t normally eat octopus saying they loved it. It was the tenderest octopus I’ve had since dining in southern Italy last summer. Continue reading “Embeya for restaurant week? yes, yes, yes” →

January 29, 2014 0

Ted’s Montana Grill: Order the bison fillet

Bison is leaner than beef, I’ve written about that before and was reminded of it during a recent dinner at a Ted’s Montana Grill in Glenview, Il.

Ted’s is a national chain started by Ted Turner that specializes in bison items like bison burger and bison steaks. We’ve been there before and enjoyed, so I suggested to my wife that we forego our usual Saturday night salad buffet and go to Ted’s instead. The meal was great and my request for no salt was met, with one rather odd exception.

I ordered the bison fillet as a main course, without seasonings, salt or the lemon butter it normally comes with. That’s exactly what Ted’s suggestions on a special dietary information page on its website. I give the chain credit for having that information but the sad part about it is that the information basically tells you all the things on the menu you can’t eat if you’re on a heart-restricted or diabetic diet. Wouldn’t it be nice if instead everything on the menu was ok for everyone to eat?

My great dinner at Ted's. I left the white roll but everything else was terrific. — My great dinner at Ted’s. I left the white roll but everything else was terrific.

The eight ounce bison fillet is 545 calories, according to the Ted’s nutritional info page, and 28 grams of fat. That compares with 64 grams of fat for the comparable beef fillet. I’m assuming that ordering it without salt or seasonings eliminated most of the 2,307 mgs of sodium the nutritional page lists for it, let’s hope so anyway. Continue reading “Ted’s Montana Grill: Order the bison fillet” →

January 20, 2014 1

Embeya: a wonderful pan-Asian surprise

Asian food has generally been off my menu since my angioplasty; most common Asian dishes have too much salt for me these days. So I wasn’t sure what to expect when dining at Chicago’s Embeya, a place that describes itself as “progressive Asian.”

I was pleasantly surprised again and again at this wonderful gem of a spot on Randolph Street. The entrée I had planned to get, a sea bass, was wonderful, as was the scallop appetizer we had. A dessert of exotic fruits was fabulous, I brought most of them home and ate them for several days. A friend I ate lunch there with got the cream puff dessert and I tried a bite, it was great; if not for my restrictions on sugar and fat, I would have gladly eaten it as my dessert.

Continue reading →

January 6, 2014 1

No salt, no fat foods: we’re here to write about them

No salt, no fat foods became must-haves for me in 2012 after having an angioplasty. The operation changed what’s left of my life from what I thought it would be.

I could no longer revel in wondrous high-fat, high-sugar, high-salt foods. If I wanted to continue living, I had to completely change everything I ate.

Cooking, and eating, trays of Italian favorites like this are out for me now but I've found ways to cope. — Cooking, and eating, trays of Italian favorites like this are out for me now but I’ve found ways to cope.

I’ve done that and I created this blog in December 2012 to help all of you who face similar challenges. The progress of this blog in being discovered has been heartening for me. Daily average visits have increased tenfold since I started it. Traffic has improved monthly. There’s still a long way to go in building this, but I’m starting to get good traction in searches for no salt, no fat foods and hope to build on that in 2014. Continue reading “No salt, no fat foods: we’re here to write about them” →

December 30, 2013 0

Dengeo’s: a Chicago north suburban favorite

I feel fortunate at a restaurant that has one option with no salt, fat or sugar that I can order. So imagine how much I love a local hotspot here in the northern suburbs of Chicago, Dengeo’s.

The Dengeo’s in Skokie (there’s another in Buffalo Grove) has grown from a hot dog stand to a quick serve restaurant—order at the cash registers and wait for your food to be done at the pickup counter.

My favorites at Dengeo’s used to be the gyros and the hamburgers and hot dogs. Those are all off my diet these days, but thankfully Dengeo’s comes through for me with a chicken breast dinner plate that features two meaty breasts in a lemon/olive oil dressing. Rather than get the French fries, I ask for a salad as a side and get a large bowl of salad, not some little skimpy offering.

Dengeo's tilapia dinner with a salad instead of fries. — Dengeo’s tilapia dinner with a salad instead of fries.

Dengeo's new fillet steak kabob. Leave the rice and pita, eat the potatoes and salad. — Dengeo’s new fillet steak kabobs. Leave the rice and pita, eat the potatoes and salad.

Continue reading →

November 13, 2013 1

Yard House: can a chain restaurant serve healthy food?

Yard House is a chain restaurant that began life in southern California and now is in 17 states across the country, ranging from New York to Hawaii, according to its website.

Chain restaurants usually are not the place to get no salt, no fat, no sugar dishes. So I was a bit apprehensive when my wife told me we were meeting friend of hers at a local outlet of Yard House, which features tavern-like foods.

Much as I once loved a great burger, I can’t eat them anymore and watching other people eat them is painful for me.

But thankfully, there was an option for me on the extensive menu, a tuna dish served with brown rice. The dish normally involves a black bean sauce which is extremely high in sodium (the Yard House nutrition info lists it at 1708 mgs for the entire dish) but when I told the waiter I was on a no-salt diet, he suggested the sauce could be kept on the side. I dipped a fork into it for a tiny taste, it was wonderful but too salty for me these days, so I was very happy he had been so understanding and helpful.

Continue reading →

November 12, 2013 2

INdustri Café – sad to see it go

Since I first wrote this post, Industri has unfortunately closed for business. I will miss it on my trips to Milwaukee. The chef-owner will hopefully pop up in a new place there soon, let me know if you hear any news about him:

john

I‘ve written more than once about how difficult it is to eat at restaurants when you’re on a restricted diet. Tell a waiter you need no salt and no fat in your dish, and you get bare plates with plain veggies and a small piece of meat, as I have.

So I didn’t have high hopes when trying a new place during a weekend visit to Milwaukee recently. But the INdustrie Café was a pleasant and wonderfully tasty surprise for me.

A lean flank steak, with a pepper crust rather than a salt one, amazing.

When I told the waiter of my restrictions, he spoke with the chef who recreated two of the place’s small plate specials without salt or butter. A lean steak came with a pepper crust instead of salt one, a major change that would have sent most chefs running out the back doors. Another dish came with a sauce made with an olive oil base rather than a butter base, amazing!!!! Continue reading “INdustri Café – sad to see it go” →

September 18, 2013 1

Eating Out: try a salad buffet

Eating out on a restricted diet can be difficult because every restaurant tends to load its dishes with salt, fat, sugar or all three. If you do find something you can eat, it likely won’t be a large enough portion to fill you either and you’ll just go home hungry and irate about your new limitations.

One solution I’ve found it to frequent all-you-can-eat salad buffets. In my area, I have two to pick from, Ruby Tuesday’s and Sweet Tomatoes.

A recent first trip to the salad buffet for me at Sweet Tomatoes.

Ruby Tuesday’s is good for a quick lunch salad but to really chow down, I enjoy Sweet Tomatoes. Check the website to see if there’s one in your area and if not, look for something similar. The sites lists 15 states with locations, under two different chain names. Continue reading “Eating Out: try a salad buffet” →

August 12, 2013 3

Wedding food — what can you eat?

Wedding celebrations are usually just that, celebrations with elaborate dinners and giant cakes, or basically all the types of foods you can’t eat on your low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar diet.

I recently attended a wedding where dinner was served family style, with food coming in large bowls to be shared by everyone at a given table. The meal included two entrees, roast beef — which I can’t eat — and chicken, which I can except that it was in some type of gravy. The family style serving meant chicken breasts were lined up in a bowl, though, and I grabbed one from the middle that had a minimum of gravy on it.

My wedding meal, thanks for leaving so few veggies everyone.

Continue reading →

July 24, 2013 1

Tag: restaurant dining

27 Live, a new Evanston spot worth checking out

Embeya for restaurant week? yes, yes, yes

Ted’s Montana Grill: Order the bison fillet

Embeya: a wonderful pan-Asian surprise

No salt, no fat foods: we’re here to write about them

Dengeo’s: a Chicago north suburban favorite

Yard House: can a chain restaurant serve healthy food?

INdustri Café – sad to see it go

Eating Out: try a salad buffet

Wedding food — what can you eat?

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