Healthy Fine Dining at Universal Studios

Visiting doesn't mean you're stuck eating just burgers and pizzas anymore. It seems that the movie studio and theme park has jumped on the first lady's national agenda of promoting healthy food and eating.

Last week Universal Studios invited a group of local food bloggers to a tasting event held at their International Cafe. The event was held to celebrate the Cafe’s recent Santé Award for Outstanding Achievement in Culinary Service and Hospitality, Chef Eric Kopelow’s 2010 Chef of the year award by Chef Magazine, and to offer food writers a chance to sample the delicious new healthy food options offered at the cafe.

The folks at Universal made us feel like stars from the beginning, leading us down a red carpet to the cafe. The cafe was nicely set up with satin napkins and beautiful flower displays at each table. About 30 food writers/bloggers attended.

The European-style International Cafe opened its doors at Universal in 2010, providing a new type of healthy "theme park" food. The menu offers a wide variety of salads, cheese plates, soups and artisanal sandwiches, as well as juices and mineral waters.

Chef Eric Kopelow greeted all of the attendees and described each course.

We were served a sampling of healthy choices on the cafe's menu. Our first course was a trio of soups, including roasted cauliflower with cheddar, chanterelle mushroom and corn bisquue, and New York clam and mussel chowder. No butter was used to prepare the soups and each one came in under 100 calories. We also enjoyed a nice arugula salad with olive oil, buffalo mozzarella and heirloom tomatoes with a balsamic vinaigrette, a trio of oven roasted turkey, smoked salmon and roast beef sandwiches made with fresh bread and a chocolate cake and banana meringue tart for dessert.

Chef Kopelaw was awarded two honors at the event, the Santé Award for Outstanding Achievement in Culinary Service and Hospitality for the Cafe and the 2010 Chef of the Year award from Chef magazine.

It is nice to know that the next time you head to Universal you can enjoy tasty and healthy food in between the tram tour and rides.