fare.

With even the most healthy-sounding menu items often laden with a host of evils, dining out can lead to unwanted inches for all but the super cautious.

However it need not be so, according to Janet Burull of Nutrition Consultant Services.

Low-fat, healthy, even tasty cuisine, can be offered on every restaurant menu, she insists. All that's required is some careful planning and a bit of education on the part of local chefs. And that's exactly what the registered dietitian offers through Chefs Creating Lean, a programme designed to teach the experts about healthy meal planning.

"Eating here is expensive and when you're paying a lot of money, you don't want to compromise flavour just to be healthy,'' she said. "What many restauranters think is `Well give them a salad with no dressing, that will be fine'. But the public is becoming more health conscious and interested in the important role of good nutrition. Restaurant diners are looking for restaurants that will provide delicious, low-fat items on their menus.

"What I found was loads of choices for `meat and potato' guys but very few for those concerned about eating more healthily. Not only does fat taste wonderful, but it makes the cooking process simple. It takes more skill and planning to make low-fat food taste great. So my goal was to provide chefs with an educational programme; a nutrition programme through which they are educated about healthy diets -- what fats are, how we use them, how we can reduce them in cooking and how to lower their content and still get taste.'' Since its inception this past March, Mrs. Burull said that 43 chefs and 12 wait staff have completed the programme, with Portofino's enrolling its entire staff. The healthy change is now evident in its menu selection, offering `light' variations of some of their more popular dishes.

"Although I've taught 40-something individuals, it's not as effective as getting in and teaching the rest of their chefs. The programme is designed to get into the restaurant so the entire staff gets involved -- managers and wait staff along with the chefs. They must know about things like portion size.

It's important. We don't want it to be too large or too small. Also, it's really important that employees have tried all the items and become involved in the process so they know how things taste because then they can give you an idea of how they like it. And restaurants which are really interested in keeping their local clientele -- which is what really concerns me as a Bermuda nutritionist, the person who goes out for lunch three, four times a week -- will want to know more.

"There are a lot of people who would eat out more often if they knew it wouldn't get them in trouble. But there's a bad impression that food that's good for you can't taste good. So people who eat out a lot suffer; especially businessmen. They want good taste but it's dreadful for the waistline and the cholesterol level and people who don't eat healthily over a long period of time, are likely to end up with a medical condition associated with their particular lifestyle.

"So part of the programme involves chefs creating new menu items which I then analyse and improve. I encourage them to be creative and supply them with lots of recipes and I have been very impressed. There's a lot of talent out there and everyone has said how much they've enjoyed the programme, how they would recommend it to other culinary professionals and how they surprisingly feel comfortable working with a nutritionist.'' Affiliated with the American Culinary Federation Education Institute, the course lasts six weeks and certifies each participant on completion.

"I want to encourage restaurants to use the programme completely and get chefs trained,'' added Mrs. Burull. "It's not expensive and it will pay back in the long run. As chefs especially, they are nutrition experts. They have a responsibility to go out and encourage people to eat healthy food. They are food professionals and they play a role in providing healthy food for people.

And when they complete the course, they will have more knowledge then the average person who comes in.'' Chefs or restaurants interested in participating in the programme may contact Mrs. Burull at Nutrition Consultant Services -- 295-2531.

From left, Portofino manager Dino Valenghi, dietitan Janet Burull and chef Teodoro Marotti.

HEALTH HTH