At a cooking class at Bayfront Medical Plaza, people learn how to create menus that are heart-friendly.
By JAY HORNING
Published May 11, 2003
ST. PETERSBURG - Tucked away in an unobtrusive location in the Bayfront Medical Plaza in downtown St. Petersburg is a fully equipped kitchen.
A kitchen in a five-story building housing a variety of medical offices? Yes, and it is not designed to serve the medical personnel in the building. The kitchen was proposed by a physician affiliated with the Heart and Vascular Institute of Florida, which is situated on the fourth floor of the building, and was to be used for educational purposes.
So about six years ago, the institute, which includes two dietitians on its staff, began sponsoring regular heart healthy cooking classes, setting up an arrangement under which a chef would prepare a complete dinner as class members watched, then dine on the results.
From the beginning, chef Jerry Boucher of the Gioia (pronounced Joy-ya) Deli at 100 First Ave. S in St. Petersburg has been cooking up these meals, which now are bi-monthly. The menus are planned by the institute's dietitians, Karen Davidowitz and Linda Sellers, in consultation with Boucher.
"It all began when one of our doctors decided we needed a program like this," Davidowitz said. "So the cooking program was designed. We then found Jerry through business contacts, and we've been working together on it ever since."
And the lonely kitchen on the building's fourth floor has been serving the purpose for which it exists.
"We research menus, then ask for Jerry's opinion. And we've never repeated a class," Davidowitz said, "although we have repeated some individual menu items."
She said the goal of the class is to get across the idea that healthy eating is not just lettuce and carrots. "There is a lot you can do that is tasty without being a father to heart disease," she said.
And Boucher, with whom they always consult after planning a menu, said they keep the time of year in mind when selecting menu choices. "For example, we put special emphasis on low fat and sugar during the holidays," he said. Last December's dinner included spinach turnovers for an appetizer, and since the recipe also called for red pepper, the colors of the season were emphasized.
They have had "graveyard cookies" on the menu at Halloween. But that is a "treat" and not recommended on a weekly basis, the recipe flier noted.
Now, with summer approaching, the next class delved into an adventure in backyard cooking.
The cooking classes are open to the public, and Davidowitz said the price has been kept at $15. Grants from various pharmaceutical companies have helped keep the price low, she said. And participants take home a recipe sheet for each menu item, along with other handouts containing nutritional information.
The marketing program is not extensive. "Basically, we rely on word of mouth," Davidowitz said. "And we leave fliers in heart and vascular doctors' offices."
She said the classes attract a lot of repeat attendees. "Usually, about half of those attending are new to the program," she estimated.
The "champion repeaters" are Ralph and Martha Worthington, both retired college professors who have been attending the classes since their inception.
Ralph Worthington is a heart patient who has had quadruple bypass surgery and his wife has severe high blood pressure, so they are very careful about what they eat.
"The great thing about the classes is that the menus provide a balanced meal and give consideration to salt, fat, cholesterol, and all the substitutes and modifications that can be made," Martha Worthington said. She and her husband have only missed one or two of the classes since they began, she said, and she has compiled quite a library of recipes, retaining at least one from each session, then adding them to her heart healthy notebook.
Boucher and the dietitians provide class members with a running commentary during the food preparation, mentioning, for example, the herbs that can be used in place of less healthy ingredients that a recipe may call for. And he always has suggestions for salt substitutes - balsamic vinegar or capers, for example - thus ridding recipes of at least one ingredient that is the bane of many heart patients' existence.
At the beginning of the program, Boucher recalled, only seven or eight people attended. That has doubled, tripled and threatens to quadruple. But there is a limit to the number who can be accommodated. Only a limited number of tables and chairs can be set up in the room.
"We've been trying to limit the classes to 20, but normally we have about 40 who want to come," Davidowitz said. "We may have to start doing the same class a second time."
Boucher faces the class as he works, and a mirror over the preparation counter is placed so that it enhances the view.
At a recent class session, classic Italian dishes were featured. Recipes distributed to class members also include nutrition values as well, listing calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, carbohydrates and sodium quantities per serving.
Boucher brings an extensive background to the class. He is a 1977 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, N.Y., and worked as a chef in Germany, Hawaii and Colorado before taking a job as the private chef for Charles Walgreen of the drugstore chain on his private yacht in 1982. He remained with him five years, then wound up in St. Petersburg when he had an opportunity to purchase the Gioia Deli, which then was on 49th Street. He moved the operation to its new quarters downtown a year ago.
Boucher's close connection with Walgreen continues, however, and this summer he will take time to help initiate a new 127-foot yacht that Walgreen - at the age of 97 - will be launching, and again will serve temporarily as his chef, this time on the shakedown cruise.
But he'll be back. He has yet to miss a heart healthy cooking class at the St. Petersburg institute. Or repeat a menu.
Taste this
Heart healthy menu at the last cooking class:
Arugula, Fennel, and Avocado Salad
Bruschetta Pomodoro
Bell Pepper Rolls
Garlic-Sizzled Mushrooms
Champion Chicken Parmesan
White Chocolate-Lemon Biscotti
To register for the heart healthy cooking class, call (727) 329-1615. Space is limited and registrations are accepted in the order received. Space is reserved only when payment is received.[Last modified May 11, 2003, 07:50:09]
