Pete Contos, who put the Greek in Denver’s Greek Town, has changed the grease at his greasy spoons.
When you enter Pete’s Kitchen on gritty East Colfax – or any of his seven other restaurants – you are entering a trans-fat-free zone. For the past 18 months, everything from French fries to French toast has been cooked without artery-clogging, hydrogenated oils. “In the old days, we used lard,” said Contos, who bought his first restaurant in 1962. “Animal fat. We didn’t know any better.”
Increasingly, diet experts fear the hydrogenated vegetable oils that replaced lard may be worse. The trans fats they contain not only raise bad cholesterol levels, but also lower the good.
Last week, KFC said it would switch to trans-fat-free oils at its 5,500 chicken joints by April. KFC’s announcement came as the New York City board of health weighed barring restaurants from serving trans-fatty foods. New York would be first, but many restaurateurs already see trans-fat-free zones in their futures.
McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s have all taken steps to remove, or at least reduce, these artificially created fats from their fryers. Walt Disney Co. has said it wants all food in its theme parks to be free of trans fat by the end of next year.
Richmond Heights, Mo.-based Panera Bread and Denver-based burrito maker Chipotle have avoided trans fats. “The ingredients we use are actually real food items,” said Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold, “not things made in a lab.”
A pinch of hydrogen makes oils more stable. This preserves baked goods – including many crackers, cakes and cookies. It also means restaurants don’t have to change the fryer grease so often.
Steve Kabylafkas, purchasing manager for Contos’ eight restaurants, said the soybean oil he now buys lasts only six days in the deep fryers. The trans-fat-laden oils he used to buy lasted nine. This means an increase in the cost of cooking oil. But he says he can no longer keep serving trans fats.
“We have customers who come here three or four times a week,” Kabylafkas said. “They will be what we feed them, so consciously, we have to do something.”
Anyone who is overweight or worried about cholesterol should not be eating out of fryers anyway, but they do.
“Make no mistake. This country loves fried food,” said Harry Balzer of The NPD Group, a consumer and retail information company. “The No. 1 food in this country is the French fry. … The most consistently growing food is fried chicken.”
Chicken nuggets, chicken strips, chicken wings – it’s all good and it’s all fried.
For restaurant chains, getting rid of trans fat is easier said than done.
McDonald’s first announced plans to do this in 2002 and hasn’t succeeded. Wendy’s has removed trans fat from its fryers, but its fries come from factories where they are blanched in trans-fatty oils, so it has really only reduced the trans fat. Burger King only last week announced plans to test an alternative oil. And KFC will still rely on hydrogenated oils to make biscuits, pot pies, macaroni and cheese, and mashed potatoes and gravy.
“If McDonald’s could change tomorrow … they’d do it because there would be a marketing advantage to doing it,” said Denver restaurant consultant John Imbergamo. McDonald’s has 17,000 restaurants, and there’s just not that much trans-fat-free oil to go around.
Another reason to eat at Pete’s.
Contos’ trans-fat-free zones include the landmark Pete’s Kitchen and Satire Lounge, Gyros Place, the Greek Town Café, the Bank Bar & Grill on East Colfax; the University Park Café on East Evans Avenue; and Pete’s Central 1 on Pearl Street.
Contos came to America from Greece in 1955 with $6.75 in his pocket. He built his small restaurant empire over a lifetime. He’s now 72.
“My doctor says I’ve got to lose 30 pounds,” he laments. “I don’t know how.”
His restaurants offer healthy Greek salads, but many customers choose the tastier fare. One of Pete’s Kitchen’s busiest hours comes after the bars close.
“A supreme burrito is a thing this big,” Contos said, his fingers wide as if gripping a football. “They eat it at 3 a.m. and they go to bed. If I was going to eat one of those and go to bed, I probably wouldn’t wake up.”
Al Lewis’ column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Respond to Lewis at denverpostbloghouse.com/lewis, 303-954-1967 or alewis@denverpost.com.
