Citeeze Food Bites: De-Light for the Taste Buds
Sofitel’s Renoir unveils 500-calorie, gourmet menu
Starting next week, watching what you eat will be a lot less difficult for downtown diners: the Sofitel hotel’s Renoir restaurant is introducing a new, 500-calorie meal program — the De-Light menu.
A launch event is being held on Tuesday, March 15, after which, the De-Light-ful fare will be become regular features at Renoir lunches and dinners.
The idea for the De-Light menu originated at the Sofitel Dietetique Thalassa Sea & Spa and Hotel, in Quiberon, France. Besides breathtaking views of the Brittany coast, the resort is known for its “stress-free slimming” regimen, based around the gourmet, but dietician-approved meals by chef Patrick Jarno, all under 500 calories.
Fresh, whole ingredients in simple, but flavourful preparations are at the heart of the De-Light concept, which was recently rolled out at the Sofitel properties in the US, from New York to Los Angeles, with Sofitel Montreal being the last stop.
For an idea of what a gourmet reduced-calorie meal looks like, the Sofitel Chicago recently offered a full, slimmed-down menu during that city’s restaurant week, with such mouth-watering dishes as: bouillabaisse with saffron, mussels and lobster; sea salt-braised pavé of wild striped bass with tomato-fennel confit and pesto sabayon; and pineapple soup dessert, with coconut sorbet and brunoise of exotic fruits.
The menu at next week’s preview will be comprised of a three-course meal that promises to be both healthy and satisfying: creamed peas with truffle essence (104 calories per serving); steamed pollock with lemony avocado cream, artichoke hearts and dijon mustard (129 calories per serving); and soymilk-based vanilla panacotta with raspberries and blackberries (115 calories per serving), the recipe for which is below.
Photo by whyy.org
Pannacotta with berries
Ingredients (4 servings):
• 200 g of low-fat cream cheese
• 200 mL of soymilk cream
• ½ vanilla pod
• 2 sheets of gelatin
• 50 g of raspberries
• 50 g of blackberries
• 10 g of honey
Soften the sheets of gelatin in cold water. In a saucepan, warm the soymilk cream with the vanilla pod on low heat until it simmers. Discard the vanilla pod and remove from heat. Add the gelatin and allow to cool, then blend into the cream cheese. Chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours.
To prepare the sauce, cook the berries and honey in a small saucepan over low heat and allow to reduce to sauce consistency. Set aside until room temperature. In four ramekins, layer the vanilla cream mixture with the sweet berry sauce and serve. Garnish with fresh mint if desired.
Berries
Steamed pollock with lemony avocado cream
Photo by whyy.org
Panna Cotta with berries
Photo by tourisme-montreal.org
Creamed peas with truffle essence
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