Isaiah and Maureen Copeland plan to open Copeland's Low Carb Cuisine Saturday in St. Petersburg. The store will offer everything from microwavable pork rinds and candy bars to books and tortillas.
Posted on 10/24/2003 2:01:27 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
A growing group of stores and restaurants expand offerings for people following Atkins and similar diets.
Isaiah and Maureen Copeland plan to open Copeland's Low Carb Cuisine Saturday in St. Petersburg. The store will offer everything from microwavable pork rinds and candy bars to books and tortillas.
Isaiah and Maureen Copeland plan to open Copeland's Low Carb Cuisine Saturday in St. Petersburg. The store will offer everything from microwavable pork rinds and candy bars to books and tortillas
Don Currie, a Tampa information technology project manager, has lost 41 pounds since Aug. 10 on the Atkins plan and has another 9 pounds or so to go.
He has developed tricks for staying on target when dining out, making sure the bread basket never makes it to the table and asking for an extra plate to put aside what he's not going to eat.
Still, he admits that eating out low carb-style isn't easy.
"The world is geared toward high carb, low fat foods," Currie said. "But I tried that, and I was 230 pounds. A little bit of effort is worth a lot."
Currie now has the option of going to a growing group of stores and restaurants in the Tampa Bay area that are expanding their menus and shelves to accommodate folks following Atkins, South Beach or other diets that call for a sharp decrease in carbs found in flour, sugar, rice, pasta, potatoes and many fruits. At Jason's Deli in Tampa, he said, the wait staff "doesn't bat an eye" when he asks for a breadless sandwich.
As more businesses scurry to get a slice of the profits being made on low carbohydrate products, one of the first Tampa Bay restaurants to design and market a menu as appropriate for low carb, high fat Atkins dieters still prides itself on its low fat, organic food.
In fact, the NK Cafe, or the Natural Kitchen, as it is known to its older customers, doesn't even serve red meat, a staple of low carb eaters. But Rita Hattab, the owner of the Tampa bistro, said its reputation for light lunches has been a plus.
"I think a lot of people come in who have eaten their fill of steak," said Hattab, who lost a significant amount of weight on the diet herself. "They want something that's not going to make their teeth hurt."
Although it has been selling its popular low carb cheesecakes for about a year, the NK Cafe began offering daily Atkins specials about a month ago, cycling through about 20 low carb recipes such as chicken stroganoff and Dijon chicken.
While the Atkins specials account for only about 5 percent of her business, Hattab said it has definitely been worth it.
"We realized that our menu has always been in line with the South Beach diet, with its low fat proteins and simple carbs, but we had to do some tweaking for Atkins," said Hattab, who designed the menu after she had so many customer requests. "During these tough economic times, we're glad we thought of it."
Reducing carb intake through diets like Atkins and South Beach forces the body to burn fat for energy. Studies published this year by the New England Journal of Medicine and the Harvard School of Public Health have helped dismiss questions about the effectiveness of the diet and fears that lowering carbs and increasing fat will lead to sky-high cholesterol.
Many who have tried the diet don't need much coaxing. Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution has been on the New York Times Best Seller's List for years, and Miami cardiologist Arthur Agatston's The South Beach Diet, published this year, already has spent 27 weeks on the list. Even TV personality Dr. Phil has come out with a low carb plan, The Ultimate Weight Solution, that is selling like hotcakes.
The popularity of such books helped inspire the managers of Haslam's Book Store in St. Petersburg to devote a couple of aisles to low carb food products that include cereal, pasta, desserts and snack foods. Co-owner Ray Hinst said so many customers were buying books and asking where they could find the products that Hinst decided to just stock them himself.
"We're not really in the food business, but we've found that stocking products is part and parcel of selling the program and the books," said Hinst, who experienced the frustration with finding low carb products firsthand since he and several members of his staff and family were on the diet. "It's one of the few diets that allow you to indulge yourself with things you crave every day, but you have to be able to find those things."
Maureen Copeland, a registered nurse, was so impressed by the effect that a low carb plan had on her weight and diabetes that she decided to open a store of her own. Copeland's Low Carb Cuisine, which will sell everything from microwavable pork rinds and candy bars to books and tortillas, is scheduled to open its doors Saturday in St. Petersburg.
"I was really getting frustrated because I could never find low carb products, and even when I bought online, the variety wasn't great and shipping and handling makes it really expensive," Copeland said. "And sometimes, you just have to have that piece of chocolate."
Eventually, she wants to offer bulk foods like low-carb flour and nuts, so that people can buy everything they need for one dish in one spot. "It'll be all low carb and sugar free, but it'll be something different," she said.
At Gigi's Italian Restaurant, which has locations in South Pasadena, Treasure Island and St. Pete Beach, diners may choose from a variety of items on its low-carb corner, including pizza made from a whole wheat crust, a bunless bacon cheeseburger plate, and filet mignon.
"It's been going pretty well," day chef Ed James said. "People keep coming back for more."
Michael Vanderburg, owner of Cafe European in Tampa, estimates that about 70 percent of his customers are on some form of a low carb diet. He said it has become even more pronounced since Dr. Robert Atkins died in April. While Vanderburg doesn't plan to design any special menus, the restaurant does tailor the existing meals to the carb cutters' wishes. "We have lots of potatoes and rice stocked up," Vanderburg said. "It eats into profits a bit, because it's more expensive to buy vegetables. But we do what we can."
The marquee at Sunset Grille, at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street and 30th Avenue N in St. Petersburg, advertises specials for dieters. Owner Kay Evers said she sells from 10 to 20 of the specials each day, which account for about 20 percent of her lunch business.
Kay Evers, owner of Sunset Grille in St. Petersburg, said being receptive to such customer needs is vital to staying in business. About six months ago, the restaurant began offering Atkins daily specials such as grilled tuna steak, prime rib and grouper.
She sells from 10 to 20 of the specials each day, which account for about 20 percent of her lunch business. But if customers decide they'd rather have Tuesday's special on a Thursday, or just a bunless cheeseburger with a side of tomatoes, the restaurant doesn't have a problem fixing it up.
Meanwhile, Blimpie International is test-marketing a Carb Counter line of low-carb sandwiches and salads, and Hardee's is feeling out a low-carb burger. Don Pablos, which has three Tampa Bay locations, recently introduced low-carb Mexican fare, including fajitas made with smoked chicken, mahi mahi or black Angus sirloin wrapped in a lettuce leaf.
Bill Gieseking, director of marketing at Pepin Distributing in Tampa, said Budweiser had expected its low carb beer, Michelob Ultra, to be a niche beverage and to be sold at about 40 percent of its restaurants and bars and 75 percent of its stores. Instead, 90 percent of stores and 63 percent of bars in Tampa Bay keep the 95 calorie, 2.6-carb beer in stock.
"It's been phenomenal, surpassing everybody's expectations," Gieseking said. "Low carb products are very hot, and I don't see any end to this."
- Benita Newton can be reached at bnewton@sptimes.com or 727 893-8318
It looks like a sure-fire winner. I bet a lot of business will cater to low-carb dieters. Soon it will just be the right way to eat.
I'll be sure to drop in on Isaiah and Maureen next time I'm in St. Petersburg. We need more low carb restaurants.
LOL! I should start food-porn magazine!
The shelves had little tags under various food items , announcing "Low Carb! " in big, bold letters. This was regular food, too, not just the Slim-Fast aisle, or the dietetic section . Dozens of items , all marked "Low-Carb! " And people were looking at the tags and buying the stuff.
Three days ago, I stopped at the local pub for a quick bite, and giggled as the man at the next table order, substituting salad for fries and asking for the bun on his sandwich on the side.
( Me? I am chowing down on a rueben with fries and a small beer)
So I smiled at the man, and said :" Oh I know what YOU'RE doing! " and asked him how he liked it.
( Not only do i have terrrible eating habits, I am also a Bad Girl in that I talk to strange men! LOL! )
Anyway, he proudly told me all about how he was still in the fairly early stages of Atkin's, but had lost 20 pounds in 3 weeks.
This Low-Carb stuff works and is a REAL good marketing opportunity. Everybody I know seems to be trying it.
Who knows. I may even give it a whirl myself.
Tia
Ha! Yes, I do know about those kind of jeans!
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