Reader: Why Do Most Restaurants Use So Much Salt and Sugar? Cheap Flavor

Where do you go for healthy food? Gretchen Kurtz gets that question a lot, and last week she reviewed LYFE Kitchen, a link in a California-based chain that wopened in Park Meadows last month. A meal at LYFE -- "Eat Good Food Everyday" --isn't supposed to just fill you up;...

By Patricia Calhoun

September 24, 2014

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Where do you go for healthy food? Gretchen Kurtz gets that question a lot, and last week she reviewed LYFE Kitchen, a link in a California-based chain that wopened in Park Meadows last month. A meal at LYFE -- "Eat Good Food Everyday" --isn't supposed to just fill you up; it's supposed to make you feel good. See also: LYFE Kitchen Has Good Intentions, But Needs More

Says tropicalchrome:

It sounds very much like this restaurant has made the same error that many others that have tried to make common dishes "healthier" by dropping the fat, salt, sugar, white flour, etc. - you can't just do that and expect them to taste good. You have to make up for the taste and texture lost with things like herbs, reductions, different cooking techniques - and that costs more. Why do you think most restaurants use so much salt and sugar? Cheap flavor.

Restaurants wanting to make a change need to rethink every dish from the ground up, and truly understand where each layer of flavor is coming from. Then make sure they're taste-tested by someone who has been eating at typical fast-casual restaurants to make sure the food makes the grade with those whose tastebuds are still accustomed to the usual amounts of salt. etc.

I wish them well.

When you want food that's good for you and tastes good, where do you go? Find Gretchen Kurtz's take on three more healthy, fast-casual options here.

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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