Active Low-Carber Forums - "Carbs, Yes! Cardboard, No!"

Carbs, Yes! Cardboard, No!

2/18/2004, "Chow, Baby", FW Weekly

http://www.fwweekly.com/issues/2004-02-18/chow.html

Chow, Baby is so sick of the Atkins diet, possibly even more than the people who are actually on it. Wasn't this, like all diets, supposed to be a short-lived fad? But it's been years now. Atkins, Atkins everywhere. Grocery stores with Atkins-dedicated aisles. Atkins lunch specials at restaurants all over town (though at a few West side restaurants, those trademarked "Atkins Approved" menu logos look suspiciously cut-and-paste). Even fast-food chains, the last place you think of for diet food, are offering low-carb items. Like Burger King's rip-off of Fred's saladburger -- turns out the reason people were getting obese from eating Double Whoppers with cheese wasn't the 1070 calories and the 70 grams of fat. No, it was the evil bun. Now we're safe.

Surely bakeries would be a refuge from this madness. Having heard much buzz about the pastries at Kolache Café, next to the Albertson's at I-20 and Hwy 377 in Benbrook, Chow, Baby tootled right over, dreaming of cinnamon rolls and sticky buns. But there, in the middle of the parking lot, was a hand-made sign: "Try Our New Low-Carb Wrap." Boy, Chow, Baby was mad.

Co-owner Chris just laughed at Chow, Baby's rants. "We had to do it [throw a bone to the diet crusaders]," she said. "We were dying out here." Their "Cardboard" -- that's their name for it, not Chow, Baby's -- breakfast wrap is a low-carb combo of eggs, sausage, and cheese in a low-carb tortilla, pressed in their panini machine. Chow, Baby refused to try it, and instead devoured a gorgonzola panini ($3.95), a pressed wrap of gorgonzola, cheddar, ham, bacon, and pepperoncini peppers. Part pastry shop, part lunch counter, Kolache Café is also part coffeehouse; Chow, Baby calmed down, a bit, after a nice cappuccino and an assorted dozen of fruit kolaches ($0.69 each).

The counter staff at Corner Bakery downtown also found Chow, Baby's vitriol amusing. "Yes, customers ask how many points or grams or whatever are in our bread," said the man who was stuffing Chow, Baby's bag with loaves of ciabatta, rye, and harvest. "I don't think zero tolerance is healthy," he added as he opened another bag for Chow, Baby's rugelach, lemon bars, brownies, and mini bundt cake. "Anything is fine in moderation, right?" Yes, indeedy.

Kevin at Panera Bread on University has the right attitude: indifference. Asked if business is down at his branch of the national bakery-cafe chain, he shrugged nonchalantly. Asked if Panera was catering to Atkinsians, he said, "Eh, we're working on some low-carb bagels," but this evidently wasn't top priority. Does he get a lot of questions about points or grams or whatever? He did a restrained eye-roll. But Kevin does get excited about his wares; though the store was crowded, he spent lots of time helping Chow, Baby choose from the marvelous selection of fresh breads and pastries. And when Chow, Baby accidentally mowed down a little girl in its eagerness to get to the raspberry brownie at the end of the counter, Kevin smiled in understanding. The other customers laughed, but Chow, Baby believes it saw carb envy in their eyes.

You can reach Chow, Baby at chowbaby~fwweekly.com.