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Highlighting the Importance of Health
With an increasing number of Scots requesting healthy options when eating out, it is becoming more important than ever for restaurants and hotels to offer such items on their menus. The healthyliving award (HLA), Consumer Focus Scotland's coveted initiative aimed at helping to improve the diets and health of Scotland's population, is leading the way in this quest. In the first of a series of profiles highlighting the ongoing association between the CIS Excellence Awards and the healthyliving award, Catering in Scotland meets Sam Ng, proprietor of Sam's Chinese Cuisine, the first ever ethnic-cuisine establishment to achieve the healthyliving award in Scotland…
Sam is easily one of Scotland's most enthusiastic proponents of the healthy eating message. From his popular 70-cover restaurant in Aberdeen, he has been extolling the virtues of healthier lifestyles for the past 18 years, while preparing nutritious and tempting dishes for his enviably loyal clientele. He is without doubt one of the friendliest and most welcoming restaurateurs in the country and has become, through his own beliefs and convictions, a true ambassador for the healthyliving brand:
'Education is the key,' he says, beaming. 'We need the HLA to highlight the importance of health to the public because we have a duty to provide good food. It is not just about our own tastes and choices – it's about improving everything in this country. If we can promote and sell healthy foods, we are helping our customers, our employees and the public in general by improving their lives and helping the country to prosper. This will, in turn, help to boost the economy of the whole country and we will all be better off as a result. Everything is linked together.'
Sam is keen to spread the word throughout the industry, as he feels it is our duty as responsible citizens to highlight the importance of a healthy lifestyle: 'In many companies, profit comes first. This is fine and everyone has to earn a profit to keep their company going, but it is equally important not to lose sight of the bigger picture. I like to have a balance of profit and quality and, that way, everybody benefits.'
And his efforts to improve Scots' health are not merely limited to the use of good food and wholesome recipes. Pre-empting the relatively recent increase in popularity of healthier living lifestyles, Sam was leagues ahead of his time when he outlawed no-smoking in half of his restaurant 12 years ago: 'We were finding that more and more of our customers wished to sit away from the smokers in order to enjoy their food, and we realised that alll our efforts to source traditional, traceable ingredients from well-respected local suppliers were effectively being wasted, because the restaurant didn't have the right kind of clear-air atmosphere in which to enjoy the meals fully.
'In 1997 we took the decision to separate the restaurant into two halves in order to create a no-smoking area that amounted to half the total dining area,' he says. 'In doing so we immediately noticed how many more people commented on the dishes we served, and in turn we noticed a gradual increase in custom. The bottom line is, smoke and food don't mix.'
It is evident from Sam's enthusiasm, dedication to the cause and, perhaps above all, positive results, that a healthy lifestyle can pay considerable dividends to operators who are keen to do their bit to help Scotland to prosper:
'Many people agree that healthy options can be made to taste as good as less healthy fare – that is the encouraging bit, concludes Sam. 'The question I keep asking myself is: how can we change the attitudes of people who are not yet aware of the benefits of a healthier lifestyle?'
Sam's Chinese Cuisine
Tel: 01224 626 233
This article has been edited from its original version. For the complete feature, please see Catering in Scotland magazine February/March 2009.
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