The keto diet was everything Rocco DiSpirito ever dreamed of.
The notion that fat is fuel was music to his ears. He could lose some serious weight and fast while continuing to eat cheese, heavy cream, steaks, bacon and his "favorite food in the world" _ butter.
As a restaurant chef, he cooked with real fats all the time and so was tasting them constantly. Plus, the diet worked; he was losing "shedloads" of pounds.
However, along with the weight loss came boredom. The limited diet excludes most fruits, starchy vegetables, bread, pasta and grains. This meant he could not have the crusty Italian bread, lasagna or breaded chicken Parmesan that he grew up on. Taste fatigue was setting in and so was panic.
"I started pondering this whole keto-is-boring thing and thinking about how I could turn keto meals into comfort food at its tastiest, especially at a time when my own fat-burning flames needed some fanning," he writes in his latest cookbook, "Rocco's Keto Comfort Food Diet," which went on sale earlier this month.
He was convinced that the diet needed a makeover. While staying true to its motto of low carbs and high fat, it needed to include a wider range of foods and ones that people enjoy eating.
"I wanted to advance conversations about keto by combining it with comfort foods because they usually conform to a lot of starches," DiSpirito said in a recent phone interview.
"Rocco's Keto Comfort Food Diet" is the Culinary Institute of America grad's 14th cookbook. His first, "Flavor," won a James Beard Award; the last nine books have been about health and wellness.
Long before becoming a keto diet advocate, DiSpirito was a rock star in the culinary world. In the late 1990s, he ran the kitchen in New York City's Union Pacific, earning a three-star review from The New York Times. His eponymous restaurant on 22nd Street was the subject of a NBC reality series, "The Restaurant."
In 2004, he fell on hard times, and announced he is taking a break from his restaurant's day-to-day operations. He turned to pitch for pasta, pots and luxury cars, popping up on reality TV shows as a judge and fox-trotting as a contestant on "Dancing With the Stars."
Then out of the blue, he returned to the restaurant world in 2018 when he joined The Standard Grill in New York City as executive chef, only to leave the business again last October.
These days he is a chef without a restaurant. His company, Pound a Day, promotes his Pound a Day diet, which is designed to help people lose up to 5 pounds every five days. He advises clients in New York City, Los Angeles and Florida on how they can enjoy their favorite foods through healthy dieting.
DiSpirito was scheduled to have been among the panelists to talk about health, wellness and the keto lifestyle at the 42nd annual International Association of Culinary Professionals conference in Pittsburgh later this month. The conference has since been postponed to October because of concerns over COVID-19.
Here are some highlights from the phone interview:
Why keto works: "It's the easiest diet to understand and is about low carbs and high fats. You have to avoid empty calorie carbs and there are not many obstacles to meet. It is a diet without deprivation and it keeps up its promise: If you follow the diet faithfully, you will lose weight rapidly."
How it works: "Sugar, not fat, is the villain. When you limit carbs in your diet, the body shifts from the carb tank to the fat tank and burns the fat faster. So dieters can lose a pound a day, feel energized but not deprived."
On comfort and cravings: Eating comfort foods the keto way played a big role in not only satisfying his cravings but also not leaving him hangry. As a result he was able to fit keto into his lifestyle almost effortlessly.
In his recipes, all-purpose flour is replaced by almond and coconut flours for biscuits, muffins, doughnuts, cinnamon rolls and dumpling soup. Pancakes and desserts are sweetened with erythritol and leafy greens stand in for bread in tacos and burgers.
Meatballs are served with zucchini noodles and cauliflower comes to the rescue in a low-carb pizza, mashed potatoes, hash browns and mac 'n' cheese.
Common sense advice: "It is a false narrative that a diet works only when you are dieting. If you comply with the metrics of a diet and transform into a conscious eater, it will work. Then all you need to do is to continue the good behavior for life.
"Through counseling, I convert my clients to make informed decisions. As a result some of them have lost 7 to 8 pounds in three days."
On bending the rules: He said some keto rules are over the top, and so dieters can loosen up some as time goes on. But he insisted they need to stay on a strict plan in the beginning, especially if they have bad food habits.
Although the diet advocates eating lots of red meat, "one should not be eating it three times a day, seven days a week," he says. Also, it is not advisable to be on it forever. "People do need to add exercising and leafy foods to the mix. You need to look at it holistically."
Next on the keto agenda: "It's about pushing the conversation toward plant-based, Mediterranean and clean and whole foods."
On other diets: The first diet he ever tried was Atkins. He went on the diet because he was training for a triathlon and wanted to get into shape quickly. "I lost 10 pounds but found it restrictive and so moved to keto."
He has avoided the Sirtfood diet, which includes special foods like dark chocolate and red wine. Dieters can consume a total of only 1,000 calories for the first three days. "Sirtfood is disingenuous and I am not in favor of its severe calorie restrictions. Its whole hook is the red wine and chocolate."
Memories of Pittsburgh: When DiSpirito was a Culinary Institute student, his roommate was a native Pittsburgher. When they visited, he remembers being struck by how helpful people were.
"When I woke up in the morning, my roommate's father was washing and waxing my car. That was really bizarrely nice of him. It wasn't just him. I found other people to be charming, too. I hope you have held on to your kindness and generosity. People say it is one of the most livable cities in the country. I'm from New York City and I don't easily accept that. But I understand why people say it. Pittsburgh has a pace that is just right."
