One evening John Arslanian puttered around the kitchen at Fresh & Bangin’ Eatery in Lucerne. The dining room was quite and most of the staff had started for home.
But the chef was intent on finishing up a course of meals he prepared for himself. With little time to cook at home after long shifts in the restaurant, he reasoned that a few ready trays of meat and vegetables would make life a bit easier — and be better for his diet than chips or whatever else was at hand.
“I’ve always wanted to lose weight,” Arslanian said. “The hardest part is eating properly.”
As he assembled pre-cooked or blanched items into ready-to-go meals, fellow chef Scott Price raised a question.
“Scott was like ‘Why can’t we do that for our customers?’” Arslanian recalled.
The idea clicked. On January 1, Fresh & Bangin’ will begin putting together prepared low calorie, low carbohydrate or even high protein meals for pick up in Clearlake, Lakeport or at the restaurant in Lucerne. Each package will include breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks for each day of the week, along with nutritional information and any necessary instructions.
Of course, chefs of their caliber never settle for simple grilled chicken or plain salads. Instead the packages may include Caribbean jerk chicken, curries from Southeast Asia and India, Middle Eastern shawarma, along with more familiar dishes such as smoked salmon, swordfish, lentil soup and hearty breakfast hash.
“It’s not the same every day,” Arslanian said. “We figured if we add a lot of deep flavor it will keep people satisfied.”
And that, he pointed out, helps keep people on a diet regimen.
Of course, there were some hurdles. Foods peak it different times and different temperatures. Shelf times vary, even after preparation, packaging and refrigeration. Herbs and spices lose their motivation under certain conditions. Microwaves batter ingredients. Ovens, on the other hand may overshoot or undercut the perfect heat level.
“We started hitting the books,” Arslanian said.
They read hard copy, searched the internet, pored over YouTube videos and compared notes. In testing they discovered, for example, the point they should pull zucchini from blanching water to allow a microwave to finish the vegetable without any roughhousing.
Over the past month, they honed in on recipes.
For now, the plan is to delivery a week of meals and snacks each Sunday for between $130 and $150.
“We’re really excited about this,” Arslanian observed.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
