New York restaurants are being flooded with low-carb, high-fat dieters who eschew sugar, flour, and most veggies in favor of meat and cheese. Posh eateries are putting bacon on the appetizer menus, offering sauces on the side, and getting accustomed to diners who have a before-dinner vodka instead of a wine.
Low-carb dieters are eating enormous quantities of food, local restaurateurs, diners and dietitians agree. "Guys come in here and order one steak after another, boom, boom, boom," said Mr. Goldstein of Angelo & Maxie's. Jack Lamb, an owner of Jewel Bako, a popular sushi restaurant in the East Village, said, "You can always tell who the low-carb people are: they order miso soup and an awful lot of sashimi, more than you'd think a person would want."
Dieters say that if you're used to eating a lot of bagels, pasta, pizza and sandwiches, all staples of busy New York lives, you have to eat large amounts of protein- and fat-rich food to get the same feeling of fullness. A three-egg omelet for breakfast, bacon and a big lump of cheese for lunch, salad and pork chops for dinner, then a late-night snack of peanut butter is not an unusual day's menu.
Full disclosure: I've lost 20+ lbs on Atkins since mid-September.
(Thanks, David!)
