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Stephen Klein would hit the roof if he found out how many calories are in some of his favorite NYC meals.
When it comes to dishes like the bacon at Peter Luger, “so amazingly thick you can cut it like it’s a steak,” the 31-year-old hedge-fund founder prefers a policy of don’t ask, don’t tell.
And the home fries at the original Palm restaurant?
“It would blow,” he says. “It would take away the romance, or at least the gluttony, of dining out.”
Plus, adds Klein, “I’m [always] trying to convince my girlfriend to eat something. If the calories were listed? It’d be completely out the window! ‘Oh, honey, let’s share the gorgonzola popovers at BLT? Wait, they have 1,500 calories?’ No way! It’s over.”
But Klein and other diners may not have much of a choice, as more city eateries take it upon themselves to keep their customers calorie-conscious.
It’s been just over three years since New York City made it mandatory for chain restaurants to post the calorie counts of their food and drink items.
Now, fine restaurants are jumping aboard the calorie-counting craze, too — but this time, it’s by choice, not law. Eateries ranging from trendy Koi to business-savvy Gaby’s at Sofitel are feeding into New Yorkers’ diets — and guilt — by offering special low-cal items. Rouge Tomate on the Upper East Side even introduced a surprisingly filling tasting menu in April that clocks in at 1,000 calories.
And while some city dwellers are eating up the lean-cuisine craze, others say that knowing the calories in their food and drink just amounts to one big buzzkill.
“As a customer and as a customer who also owns restaurants . . . I think mystery is really good,” says Ken Friedman, who owns such deliciously artery-clogging eateries as the Spotted Pig and the Breslin.
“We shouldn’t announce how many calories are in things or how much alcohol is in wine versus beer versus scotch.”
“I kind of don’t want to know how many calories are in a steak in Minetta Tavern,” he adds.
“That’s why people have oatmeal and yogurt for breakfast, so they can go out for dinner with little regard for the calories or fat in a dish.”
But others say there’s nothing wrong with making healthy eating easy.
On a recent Monday evening at Flex Mussels in the West Village, Magnus Riddiford and a friend, Rachel Berry, delved into their shared plates of mussels and tuna crudo with gusto. The best part of their post-work grubbing? The entire meal was only 250 calories per person.