Sheraton goes low-carb
Hotels unveil menu items

John Stearns
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 16, 2004 12:00 AM


Feeding a growing consumer appetite for low-carbohydrate meals, Sheraton hotels across the country today will unveil carb-stingy menu items refined in tests at two Valley hotels.

"It's an amazing impact," John duToit, food and beverage manager at the Sheraton Crescent Hotel in Phoenix, said of the low-carb meals' popularity during the monthlong test that ended Thursday.

About 37 percent of the meals ordered came off the "Lo-Carb Lifestyle" menu tested at the Sheraton Crescent and Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa on the Gila River Reservation. They were among a handful of U.S. Sheratons that tested the menu.

The special menus list carb counts with each item. For example, the Ultimate Portobello Chicken Burger weighs in at 2.9 grams, and Salmon Lettuce Wraps at 2.6 grams. Low-carb options are offered for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and appetizers - even cocktails like the Leany Tini.

Sheraton is among hotels across the country adapting to the dietary craze sweeping the land under names like Atkins, South Beach and Weight Watchers.

"Hotels tend to be laggards in catching up with . . . social trends, but it's important for hotels to do that to keep current pace," said Robert Mandelbaum, director of research at the Atlanta office of PKF Consulting, which works in the hospitality, real estate and tourism industries.

"People want to do on the road what they do at home (and) keeping current with trends is a smart business move."

Valley kitchens are reporting no disruptions as they adjust to the new meals.

"This is the new way to be health-conscious now," said Niki Peters, 35, of Dallas, as she finished her "Updated Caesar" salad with chicken topped with Parmesan crisp instead of croutons at the Crescent on Tuesday.

The Camelback Inn, a JW Marriott resort and spa in Scottsdale, began serving a diet-oriented menu in its Navajo restaurant last month. Menu items list calorie counts, plus grams of fat, carbohydrates and protein to let diners see exactly what they're eating.

About 41 percent of guests order off the healthful lunch menu at Navajo and 12 percent at dinner. The nighttime decrease is attributed to a buffet that allows guests to choose what they want to eat.

Even if hotel guests aren't on a strict diet, healthful menu items allow people like Brad Jones, 37, of New York City to fuel up on lighter foods when business trips disrupt normal exercise routines.

"I think that's a good alternative when you're not able to stay on your regular schedules," Jones said after eating a low-carb business lunch with his colleague, Peters, at the Sheraton Crescent.

The Scottsdale Plaza Resort, an independent property, hasn't gone so far as to offer carb counts on its menu, but is considering it, spokeswoman Karen Murray Boston said.

Kristen Jarnagin, spokeswoman for the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass, said about 5 percent of meals in the first month were off the low-carb menu.

"People love having the option," Jarnagin said, adding that it's better than searching for something on the menu "that might work."

Sheraton will bring low-carb options to banquet menus shortly, she said.


http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarep...arbhotel16.html

This is an interesting developement. I don't remember restaurants ever really catching on the whole low-fat movement, not in Montreal anyway. Which is a good thing in retrospective. I attribute this difference to the fact that's it's rather difficult to have taste while taking out the fat, whereas it's quite possible to have scrumptious low-carb meals. I think that people who ate out didn't really want to eat low-fat, as it was considered to be a deprivation. Not so for low-carb.

Interesting article. My family and I stayed at a Holiday Inn for a few days last weekend and I was very pleased to find that they had a low carb menu. More and more restaurants in my area are doing the same.
Really, what a lot of them are doing is simply taking the low carb items that were already on their menus (unbreaded chicken breast, steak, pork chops, hamburgers) and combining them with a salad and low carb veggies. Some are charging more for that option, a few are charging the same or less.
I've always had an easy time eating out on low carb, it's just that now I can order a whole meal from the menu without having to order ala carte or making substitutions for what they offered (can I have a larger salad instead of that rice?).
What I really appreciate is that more restaurants are including the carb counts with their nutritional information when it's listed instead of just giving you the fat and fiber content.

I love it. When did fat and protein become "lighter foods"? Times are definitely a-changing!

I stayed at the Syracuse University Sheraton last weekend (college visit with my daughter). I noticed that on the room service menu they had stir fries served with what they called "low carb vermicelli". A few months ago I spent the night at the Ritz-Carlton in Chicago, where the low carb breakfast was a sirloin steak served with berries, for $32.00.

I am so glad to see this, and really do hope it starts a trend in the hospitality/property management business. I travel a great deal for work and really struggle with eating in restaurants or at the hotel due to lack of options at some places. To see this along with the recent restaurant trends is very good news.

I've seen some hotels with fairly decent continental breakfasts containing yogurt (though still with sugars, the containers are at least smaller), boiled eggs, fresh fruit, etc, although they still include the evil pastries and bagels. I would love to convince them to carry some sort of breakfast meat now!

Maybe I can convince my travel agent at work to start booking Sheraton rooms for me instead.

I stayed at the Marriott in San Mateo a few weeks ago for a week. My room included access to the Concierge Lounge. I was very surprised to find that the "continental" breakfasts included eggs and a meat and the evening snacks and dessert actually included a meat dish and vegetables (and potatoes). I didn't have to eat out at all except for lunch when I wasn't in the hotel. It was a great surprise and very convenient.

It is getting easier to stay LC while travelling. Breakfasts used to be a problem if they were included. It felt wasteful to go our to find scrambled eggs. But even the "continental breakfasts" now tend to have boiled eggs and/or cheese. I used to tell the hotel people that I 'really can't eat wheat' and look sadly toward the croissants.

Just to follow up, the breakfast buffet at the Sheraton (not included in the room price) included scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage.