During National Nutrition Month And All Year, Café Services Diners “Enjoy The Taste Of Eating Right”

“Enjoy the taste of eating right” is the theme of National Nutrition Month 2014, a nutrition awareness campaign promoted annually in March by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

At 200 West Street café in Waltham, Mass, business diners enjoy healthy food that tastes good all year round. For this, they have Chip Griffin to thank. Chef/Manager at Café Services, a corporate food service company serving Massachusetts, Chip is a master at making the meals his customers like more nutritious. He’s a firm believer in the Café Service philosophy that eating well should be a satisfying experience.

“Healthy eating is not about deprivation,” says Chip. “It’s about preparing meals that use more ingredients that are good for you than not.”

Small Changes Make A Big Difference

At 200 West, changes to recipes are subtle and made to preserve the look and flavor of diners’ favorite foods. For example, to trim fat from meatloaf, Chip uses a 50/50 blend of lean ground turkey and lean ground beef. Instead of serving it with mashed potatoes drowned in butter or heavy cream, he accompanies it with whipped sweet potato—a tasty side with fewer calories than the traditional alternative.  In other meat entrees, like steak, Chip uses a modest three- to four-ounce portion of protein and fills up the plate with lots of colorful, healthy, fresh vegetables.

What Comes Naturally At 200 West Is A Priority At Café Services

Creating healthy meals that look and taste delicious comes naturally to Chip, who grew up eating nutritious meals prepared by his dietitian mom. It’s a priority at Café Services, which launched a new FitPicks™ program in January to ensure that diners at all locations always have a choice of foods that meet set nutrition standards. Chip worked with Café Services registered dietitians to develop FitPicks recipes, recommending ways to maximize flavor and visual appeal while following nutritional guidelines.

Research shows that when it comes to choosing food, people put taste over nutrition the majority of the time. At Café Services, the two go hand in hand.

I’ve been born and bred corporate dining and corporate catering from the very beginning of my career in the Silicon Valley and now, since 2001 in the Boston Metro Area. While working my way up through the ranks, all the experience has led up to my current position as the Corporate Executive Chef for Café Services, based out of Manchester, NH. I have the privilege to be able to utilize creativity, research and technology to dream up our company’s new culinary programs and custom menus for corporate cafeteria clients and bring them to life. Café Services supplies the resources to ensure success of our ever-evolving companywide culinary initiatives and I’m very grateful for the opportunity. Seeing the success of new programs in the field is my motivation. It’s a win win.