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Notes From the CKD Kitchen: Restaurant Dining

2007; Elsevier BV; Volume: 17; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1053/j.jrn.2007.05.003

1532-8503

Duane Sunwold,

Dietetics, Nutrition, and Education

As a chronic kidney disease patient, have you wondered how to dine in a variety of restaurants guilt-free? I have received many questions on this subject lately, which inspired me to share my strategies for a successful dining experience using my culinary knowledge. I always try to call the restaurant ahead of time and explain to them my dietary guidelines and the reason for these guidelines. If I’m not able to give the restaurant any advance notice, I follow four simple steps once I arrive at that restaurant to create a wonderful meal that will follow my doctor’s and dietitian’s nutritional guidelines. As a chronic kidney disease patient, have you wondered how to dine in a variety of restaurants guilt-free? I have received many questions on this subject lately, which inspired me to share my strategies for a successful dining experience using my culinary knowledge. I always try to call the restaurant ahead of time and explain to them my dietary guidelines and the reason for these guidelines. If I’m not able to give the restaurant any advance notice, I follow four simple steps once I arrive at that restaurant to create a wonderful meal that will follow my doctor’s and dietitian’s nutritional guidelines. HAVE YOU WONDERED how a professional chef with chronic kidney disease (CKD) maintains his dietary guidelines and is able to dine in a variety of restaurants guilt-free? I have received many questions on this subject lately, which inspired me to share my strategies for a successful dining experience. I started with the National Kidney Foundation’s brochure, “Dining Out with Confidence,” available at http://www.kidney.org/atoz/atozItem.cfm?id=42. My other resource was the American Association of Kidney Patients’ Nutritional Counter that includes nutritional information about menu items from national restaurant chains, available at http://www.aakp.org/brochures/nutrition-counter/. After reading these resources, I used their advice along with my own restaurant experience to make eating in restaurants a success. I always try to call the restaurant ahead of time and explain to them my dietary guidelines and my reasons for them. The more lead time a chef has to prepare, the more likely he or she can create a very special dish for you. Explaining why you are on these guidelines enhances your success rate. People empathize with your dietary restrictions, and this usually motivates chefs to design something unique. Chefs want people to enjoy their food. I do apologize to all kidney patients for the culinary industry. Very few of us were trained to identify foods in terms of potassium and phosphorus levels. Certified chefs have only completed an introductory nutrition course. Rarely do these courses include renal diets. Chefs know how to prepare low-sugar, low-fat, low-sodium, and gluten-free diets. So embrace this opportunity to give the chef a list of foods that are on your guidelines. These professionals have spent their entire culinary career developing flavors, and want to make a flavorful dish. If you are not able to give the restaurant any advance notice that you will be dining there, here are the four steps I use once I arrive at the restaurant. First I read the whole menu, and not just the title of each entrée. I read what comes with every dish on the menu. Second, I go back over the menu as if it is an inventory list of my pantry, and determine which foods fall into my guidelines and which ones I should avoid. I look for appetizers that could be my main course. I scope out side dishes that could be plated together to make an entrée. When I’ve seen fresh fruit on the menu as a garnish, I have asked if that could be my dessert. Third, I create a list of foods I would like to see on my plate from the menu. Now I have a game plan, just in case the restaurant staff and the kitchen staff can’t handle a few unusual questions. And fourth, I ask the servers what they would recommend, based on my guidelines. Be prepared for a wide variety of responses. I have received an array of responses from “Stay away from two-thirds of our menu” to “I don’t know; I don’t know how to help you.” If the server is not giving you any guidance, I ask him or her to ask the chef, “Will my idea work in creating a meal?” The chef knows the menu from every angle. He also knows what is in the kitchen and the refrigerators. Beware of a busy dining room, which means there is a very busy kitchen. The chef is currently thinking of your meal as well as of everyone else’s around you. He may or may not have time to be very creative. Your suggestions, however, could direct the chef down the right path. He may still surprise you with his creativity; you just gave him the canvas to paint on. At this point, I almost always have a very successful meal. I’m not feeling guilty; I followed my dietician’s and doctor’s recommendations. My quality of life is being maintained because I did not stress out my body by flooding it with large amounts of certain nutrients. Moreover, dining out with friends and family makes me feel like a normal person. Both the meal and the company were a success—congratulations! But be prepared for one last bump in your evening before you leave the restaurant. That special plate you or the chef created has never been “costed out.” There is no preprogrammed key on the computer that will tell your server how much to charge for your meal. Having learned this lesson the hard way, I always try to ask before confirming my order with the server, “How much will the special dish cost?” As a CKD patient on a want-to-be vegan diet, I know that vegetables can’t cost as much as Kobe beef that has been raised with daily massages. I love to teach, and I try to approach every restaurant I dine in as a teachable moment. I never get upset, because I know the kitchen needs to learn how to prepare meals for CKD patients. I know the wait staff hasn’t been educated on CKD nutritional guidelines. The one key to success for every well-known restaurant is repeat customers. If you take the time to educate your favorite restaurant, won’t that guarantee you will become their repeat customer? Bon appétit in a kidney-friendly manner.