Newtown Adapts To The Low-Carb Eating And Dieting Craze

By Nancy Crevier

Are you in The Zone? Have you adopted a Life Without Bread, or perhaps you’re basking in The South Beach glow?

Americans are gobbling up high protein, low-carb/no-carb diets, and Newtowners have bellied up to the trough right along with the rest. If you’re not on the Atkins diet, the South Beach Diet or any one of numerous other famous diets yourself, chances are you know someone who is.

Popular low-carb diet plans emphasize limiting carbohydrates (particularly those of refined sugars and processed, refined grains) or eliminating them entirely, while simultaneously increasing fat and protein from plant and animal sources. They’re a far cry from the grain-heavy (read that: carbohydrate) base of the USDA food pyramid that toppled the Basic Four Food Groups in the ‘90s.

Pizza, bagels, breadsticks, mashed potatoes, risotto, cakes, pies and cookies take the brunt of these new diets. They are the alleged culprits that lay waste to our waistlines and limit our lifelines. They are also the mainstay of many of our area eateries. How do businesses handle a food phenomenon that takes their product to task?

It’s pretty much business as usual at Villarina’s Pasta Shop on South Main Street. Owner Steven Eskierski still sells plenty of pasta and his customers still take advantage of the “free pound of pasta” special he runs.

Bread sales are down, however. Fewer loaves of the delicious Arthur Avenue breads carried at Villarina’s move off the shelf these days. When offered garlic bread at the checkout, says Mr Eskierski, more often than not the answer will be a sad, “No thanks.”

Carb-conscious customers are buying the whole wheat pasta that is always available, and the Villarina’s satellite kitchen has developed a special low-carbohydrate pasta that is available with one or two day’s notice. Mr Eskierski sees the low-carbohydrate diet as one that will eventually settle into the same popularity as that of low-fat foods; in other words, a diet that his business will continue to accommodate.

Accommodation is, indeed, the key to surviving food fads that sweep the population, according to Bagel Delite owner Eunice Laverty.

“You have to accommodate,” she says, “and make suggestions.” Located at 30 Church Hill Road, Bagel Delite has definitely seen a decline in bagel sales due to the popularity of the low-carb diets. Regular bagel customers now stop in for just a coffee and offer a word of apology for their long absences: “I’m on the South Beach Diet.”

Mrs Laverty and her staff tried offering a low-carbohydrate bagel made from special flour this spring when her customers started asking for alternatives. The quality wasn’t there, though, and the costly flour made the new bagel uncompetitive.

One of the ways in which this business has responded to low-carb requests, though, is the mini-bagel. Made off premises and available with just 48 hours notice, this petite version provides half the carbohydrates of its larger cousin.

“Filleting” bagels for sandwiches is another popular order that Bagel Delite is happy to fill. This involves removing the bready interior of the bagel, leaving only a crispy outer shell to hold the sandwich filling.

Has there been an up-side for this decidedly high carbohydrate company? “Yes,” says Mrs Laverty. “[Sandwich meat] and wraps are huge now.” Multi-grain bagels are also outselling the other varieties sold here. Continuing to accommodate is the plan at Bagel Delite, to handle a diet that Mrs Laverty sees as long-lasting in our community.

Owned by Charlotte and Wolfgang Hilse, Hilse Catering serves up breakfast and lunch to approximately 100 employees at Tier One and Kendro Labs, 31 Peck’s Lane. The low-carbohydrate diets, especially the South Beach Diet, are big with a number of their customers.

Once popular sandwiches, always available on whole grain breads, have taken the back seat to sandwiches sold on wraps. Bacon cheeseburgers and Philly cheesesteaks are increasingly requested sans bread of any kind. With pasta and lasagna sales declining, the Hilses have opted to provide more meals that focus on meat and vegetables – served without a starchy side dish.

Because they serve a consistent clientele, Charlotte Hilse feels it has been easy to accommodate special dietary requests. “We are lucky – we know our customers and what they like,” says the 20-year catering veteran.

Not only are pizza and pasta sales unaffected by Newtown’s diet craze, sales are up, says John Tambascio, a co-owner of My Place Restaurant in Newtown and DiPalma’s New York Pizza in Southbury. A lack of requests has made it easy for Mr Tambascio to resist carrying a pre-made low carbohydrate pizza dough.

People who want pizza and pasta know what that means – carbohydrates – and don’t worry about it. Not that carbohydrate conscious eaters won’t find plenty of offerings at My Place. A low-carb wrap is offered and the small portion options sell like crazy.

“Instead of a whole order of pasta,” he says, “people will order a half portion and an extra meatball, maybe. I’ve never believed in a plate charge, so people are welcome to split orders.”

Orders from Atkins and South Beach followers were much more pronounced at this restaurant last year – “Hold the potatoes and bread,” was the battle cry he heard all of the time. Now people are finding a balance. “Our customers care about what they’re eating.” And that includes the pizza!

While more established eateries in town had to adapt to the low-carb craze, owner Dan Riccio opened Sugarbaker’s six months ago with a low-carb menu already in place. Echoing other Newtown businesses, Sue Stockman, Sugarbaker’s marketing and public relations liaison, says low-carb wraps are the sandwich bread of choice, by far, at the South Main Street café.

There are plenty of tasty treats on the regular menu, but entrees such as egg platters, berry platters, omelets, salads, and daily specials to suit health conscious dieters are big business. Nonetheless, Ms Stockman says cookie platters and desserts continue to fly out the door.

Being strictly a bakery, Andrea’s Bakery on Queen Street has perhaps felt the pinch of low-carb diets more so than other businesses. Like many diets, right after the holidays people started buzzing about this newest diet trend, says owner Tony Posca.

“Then all of a sudden around March, April, the bottom fell out of my bread sales!” he said.

Changing production has been Mr Posca’s answer to this challenge. He does less bread baking and offers certain varieties on the days they sell best. What could have been disastrous has actually turned out fine: roll sales are up and so are dessert sales, especially on the weekends.

It’s a movement he sees dying down, although it has lasted longer than many diet fads Mr Posca has seen in his 24 years in the business. Overall, he is counting on his regular customers to tell him what they want, and plans to stick to his guns.

He makes a point: “People that come in a bakery aren’t looking for low-carb. If they’re on a diet, there are too many temptations!” As the sign in his window warns, “Atkins UN-friendly!”

So what will it be – “Atkins” or “Fatkins”? Only time will tell. What is clear is that Newtown businesses value their customers’ input and will continue to provide the high quality products for which they are known.

Nancy Crevier, a wife and mother who lives in Newtown and thinks constantly about what her children are consuming, has been writing food columns and newsletters for a number of years.