Relaxing with friends for a drink after work or socializing on weekends often means meeting at a restaurant, where bar food is an important extension of what’s on the menu.
Much more than a bowl of nuts, interesting bar fare has flourished well beyond platters of fried potato skins and chicken wings. Fueled by the popular Latin custom of offering a variety of small plates, or tapas, now you can get everything from chicken skewers to salad wraps.
But Joann Lichten, author of “Dining Lean: How to Eat Healthy in Your Favorite Restaurants” (Nutrifit, 2000), cautions that small samples can add up to big consumption. “So don’t fool yourself. Figure on about 100 calories a bite.”
Making it easy for guests to share appetizers was part of the menu-writing mission for John Metz, owner of Marlow’s Tavern in metro Atlanta. “We do shrimp and crab nachos, but they’re done on individual tortilla chips. It’s not a big messy pile,” he says.
And while Marlow’s indulgent kettle chips, smothered in blue cheese, and firecracker fried shrimp are among the most popular snacks at the bar, Metz was really surprised that the hummus spread with grilled pita chips and vegetables became such a big seller.
“The blackened tilapia wrap served with fresh fruit was a bigger hit than we thought too,” he says.
Although healthier choices are emerging in pub-crawl popularity contests, Lichten notes that there are some new heavy hitters to be wary of when bellying up to the bar.
“TGI Friday’s is serving fried green beans and macaroni and cheese fritters. Bennigan’s just introduced fries topped with cheese and bacon. Unfortunately, none . . . would fall into the low-fat or low-calorie category.”
To enjoy shared appetizers without overindulging, try these tips:
Don’t just reach for a bite and pop it in your mouth. Ask for an empty plate and transfer a portion to your plate. By doing so, you’ll make snacking a more conscious activity.
When eating tapas, don’t be fooled by the relatively small size of the plate. Two or three small plates’ worth of food (and calories) are enough for most of us.
Bartenders often serve meals to guests and are as willing as any server to provide full service. So if you’re sharing fried shrimp, for instance, ask to have cocktail sauce or lemons substituted for the high-calorie tartar sauce it may come with.