As many hopeful Americans forge ahead with their New Year's health and wellness resolutions, restaurateurs are looking to accommodate this annual quest for dietary improvement by infusing menus with a growing variety of superfoods.
While there continues to be some debate as to which ingredients fall under the much- discussed superfoods category, operators nevertheless are adding items that experts agree carry some form of health halo.
Among the favorites are such foods as avocados, leafy greens like watercress, spinach and kale, cruciferous vegetables including broccoli and cauliflower, fruits and berries like blueberries and Açai, almonds and walnuts, grains like quinoa and oats, and lean proteins such as salmon.
In general superfoods are recognized as being nutrient-dense, high in heart-healthy antioxidants and fiber, and rich in vitamins like A, B and C, says Sonya Angelone, a nutritionist and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Salmon, for example, is high in omega-3 fatty acids, a variety of fat that appears to decrease the risk of heart disease. It is also a prime source of protein and contains vitamin A and B vitamins.
“Superfoods are not miraculous, but they provide a lot of nutritional benefits,” Angelone says.
While an increasing number of operators are adding superfoods to their menus, not all necessarily choose to highlight such ingredients on their menus — they simply incorporate them into various dishes and let customers make their own connection. “[Superfoods] is a marketing term and experts don't necessarily love it,” Angelone says. “However, these days people are more knowledgeable about what they're eating.”
According to 2014 Datassential Menu Trends, superfoods are becoming more common in the restaurant pantry. For example, in 2014, spinach could be found on 58.2 percent of all menus, while broccoli appeared on 47 percent of menus, salmon on 40.2 percent, avocados on 39 percent, almonds on 34.1 percent and walnuts on 30.8 percent.
Other foods, which perhaps showed less menu penetration previously, demonstrated rapid growth between 2010 and 2014, Datassential says. Kale, quinoa, Brussels sprouts, flax and chia all registered growth of over 100 percent during that period, while Swiss chard grew 79 percent, Açai grew 63 percent, beets grew 71 percent, and pomegranate grew by 50 percent.
As consumers become more acquainted with the world of superfoods, operators and chefs are seizing the opportunity to give their menus a better-for-you boost by incorporating them into dishes. However, many restaurateurs opt to take a stealth approach to healthful dining. First Watch, the Atlanta-based breakfast-and-lunch specialist, prefers simply to list the components of its Quinoa Power Bowl without highlighting the fact that it contains a number of superfoods. The chain's Pesto Chicken Quinoa Bowl, for example, mixes high-protein grain quinoa with kale, shredded carrots, house-roasted tomatoes, grilled lemon chicken breast, basil pesto sauce, feta cheese and fresh herbs.
Applebee's Neighborhood Grill and Bar features several superfoods in its newly introduced Pub Diet menu — four dishes containing fewer than 600 calories each. However, the 2,000-unit Kansas City, Mo.-based casual-dining brand discovered in focus groups that while a handful of consumers could identify different superfoods, most were just not that familiar with them, according to Applebee's executive chef Jessica Jones.
As a result, Applebee's officials decided to post the ingredients on the menu accompanied by a graphic element listing each dish's calorie, fiber and protein content. For example, the Cedar Grilled Lemon Chicken with Quinoa — which also contains Granny Smith apple relish, cranberries and pecans — weighs in at 550 calories, five grams of fiber and 41 grams of protein.
“Today, people are more health conscious, but they're not necessarily just counting calories,” Jones says. “Other nutritional elements like fiber and protein are also important to them.”
The Pub Diet menu — which Applebee's says has already generated considerable social media buzz — also offers Pepper-Crusted Sirloin, which includes a grain blend that is high in fiber and protein, together with sautéed spinach and grape tomatoes.
Whether an operator chooses to identify a dish as containing superfoods or not, however, the key to the new generation of better-for-you menu items is not to stint on flavor, experts say. “You have to give the guest a really good, flavorful meal without them feeling like they're eating diet food,” Jones says. “We learned that you can't use ingredients that are low-fat or low calories. You have to use real ingredients…and understand how the ingredients contribute fat and calories to the dish.”
Andre Fuehr, vice president of food and beverage at Uno Chicago Grill, agrees that consumers are “becoming much more savvy about food, but they want it to taste good. You have to make the healthy foods taste good, too.”
The 140-unit casual-dining chain based in Boston also showcases a variety of superfoods in its Power Salad. The dish contains grilled chicken, spinach, dried cranberries, goji berries, raisins, soy nuts, almonds, pepitas, tomatoes, carrots, feta, red grapes and a fat-free vinaigrette. “It's a good mover,” Fuehr says. “It has loyal followers who are pretty passionate about it.”
But while Uno also features such superfoods as blueberries, avocados and leaf green spinach in other selections, the chain has no plans to add a menu section emphasizing superfoods. “Customers haven't been asking for it,” he says. “I think [superfoods] are more seen as an added benefit where they make sense, like salads or sides. They're kind of like a cherry on the sundae.”
Angelone agrees that while not every guest is going to gravitate toward superfoods, it makes sense to offer them as an option. “A portion of people dining out are looking for good health, and not just comfort food like a burger and fries,” she says. “I think more people are realizing that what you eat is who you are and how you feel. We don't function on all cylinders if we're not eating well.”
Nevertheless, chefs and operators must find the most expedient way of working them into their menus. “Uno is about deep-dish pizza,” Fuehr says, “and I don't know whether we should go to a whole section devoted to superfoods.”
But, he continues, “I think superfoods definitely have a place on the menu. We're always looking at better-for-you choices, and [superfoods] are a great tool to use in rounding out a menu.”
