Why do professional chefs always seem to use an excessive amount of butter and oil? Surely there is a healthier way to make food that tastes excellent.

 

A buddy of mine inherited a restaurant and he asked me to recommend a few recipes. I did, and included some with a lot of butter.

He said, “But these have too much fat in them.”

I said, “People like fat.”

As it happens, I would never (well, almost never) cook such butter-laden dishes for myself. Hey, I try to eat healthier than that. But if I were running a restaurant, you bet I would. Why? Because people like fat.

Though, were I to create a menu for my own new restaurant, I’d definitely experiment with a “lite” menu alongside the regular one. I’m not interested in encouraging people to eat unhealthy food and would like to provide health-conscious customers with alternatives. There’s also some demand for that, especially among people who accompany others to restaurants but themselves prefer to avoid too much fat.

But I’d be hesitant to risk much money on a restaurant that served only healthy food. Why? Because customers like fat.