October 8, 2004

Pamela’s Eastside Café

Traditional or healthy food—with an education on the side

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

One would think that owning a restaurant after growing up in the business and having chefs for parents would be a natural and almost expected career path. But for Pamela Hahn, getting there meant taking a journey that has given her an entirely different outlook on—and respect for the food she serves at Pamela’s Eastside Cafe.

Pamela Hahn stands ready to serve fresh, home-cooked meals and low-carb alternatives.

Hahn never aspired to own a restaurant. Instead, she devoted 22 years to a career in business consulting, until an auto accident—and a broken back put her life on hold 16 years ago.

“I couldn’t stand up or move my neck,” she says. “I gained weight and felt unhealthy. That’s when I got tired of being sick and decided to heal myself.”

In an effort to combat ineffective treatment and mounting medical bills, Hahn began studying nutrition and learned about controlled carbohydrates. Then she discovered Dr. Atkins’ book, which she says “made total sense.”

In May 1996, she opened Pamela’s Café in an attempt to bring healthy food and a controlled carbohydrate menu to the public.

“They didn’t want it,” she admits. “It just wasn’t the right time. So I gave them what they wanted—down home cooking. I pretty much work out of the refrigerator. There are no trans fats in this restaurant, and I use very little food with additives. With supplements and fewer simple carbohydrates, you can lengthen your life.”

However, at 215 pounds, Hahn decided three years ago to start “walking the talk.” She headed to the gym and went back on the Atkins diet—while continuing to study the effects of carbohydrates on the body. After losing 73 pounds, she began to incorporate low-carb items into her menu, while speaking to customers about diet and health.

“It’s not exclusively low-carb,” she admits. “I would prefer it to be that way, but who am I to tell people how to eat. I’m here to provide for the market. But as an owner, I think there is a moral issue too. I don’t mind if you eat certain foods, but I’m going to give you the best foods that I can.”

Her simple advice has now turned into regular Thursday night classes, where she teaches people how to cook, eat and live the popular low-carb lifestyle. And yet, unlike most restaurateurs with energetic business plans, Hahn doesn’t gauge her success by the bottom line, rather by the number of lives she’s changed.

“I do a lot of things for my customers that they don’t even know I’m doing,” she admits. “And at great expense. You’ve got to totally rethink the whole profit margin thing in this case.”

For 31-year old registered nurse Eileen McGuire, discovering the class while having lunch at Pamela’s Café has given her a second chance to live long enough to raise her three children.

“My mom and I went there to try a low-carb lunch one day and met Pamela,” McGuire says. “She showed us a picture of the changes she’d made and how she did it, so I decided to start the program.”

At nearly 200 pounds, whether working nights at O’Connor Hospital or home-schooling her children, McGuire faced daily battles with weight, diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, high cholesterol and memory loss. Today, she’s shed 16 pounds, her vitals are stable, tests show no signs of diabetes, and with renewed energy, she exercises regularly—even roller skates with her kids.

“I’ve learned more from her than in any nutrition class I’ve taken as a nurse,” McGuire says. “Doctors aren’t required to take them. We are, but they really don’t give us the information we need—or the reality of how our bodies work.”

Although the weight loss has been slow, McGuire contends that her health has improved dramatically because of Pamela’s education. And even though most doctors are skeptical of Atkins, when the lab work backs it up, she says there aren’t too many who would argue with the results.

“This is not a diet, it’s a lifestyle change,” she exclaims. “My doctor is very supportive because it’s working. Now he recommends nutritional supplements, rather than over-the-counter medication to keep me on the lifestyle.”

According to McGuire, the food at Pamela’s Café—especially the low-carb French toast with sugar-free syrup is excellent.

“Pamela is very picky,” she says. “She wants what’s best for us and that’s what impresses me the most. I keep going because I know she really cares about my life.”

“She’s been such a blessing to me,” admits former student Barbara Davis, now 40 pounds lighter. “She was a hands-on instructor and always treated me like family—I had fun too.”

Davis now exercises regularly and scrutinizes labels for nutritional content—an education that she says allows her to keep her cholesterol and weight in check.

“The body has a natural ability to heal itself if you give it the right fuel,” Hahn adds. “People have the wrong concept of controlled carbohydrates. When you get into lifetime maintenance, it’s simply a no junk food diet.”

Pamela’s is a godsend for those living a low-carb lifestyle, according to 49-year old Mark Adams, a space vehicle test specialist for Lockheed.

“The food is very good,” he says. “It relieves a great deal of frustration we have in trying to get a decent menu while retraining our dietary habits. I’m learning to eat sanely and am no longer making myself sick. In the class, we call it ‘carboholism’ and treat it as an addiction, where we deal not only with the physical, but the emotional, social and psychological aspects of overeating.”

At 310 pounds and a skyrocketing blood sugar count, Sixta Gill faced gastric bypass surgery, but needed to change her eating habits for a year before her doctor would perform the operation. While discussing the options with her husband over lunch at Pamela’s Café, she decided to enroll in the class. Four weeks later, her blood sugar had dropped 192 points and her health today continues to improve. She admits the education and one-on-one attention keeps her coming back.

“I’ve lost 65 pounds,” Gill exclaims. “With the planning and vitamins Pamela suggested, everything is running smooth for me now. My husband and family are really happy and my doctor at Kaiser supports it. I can’t praise her enough—she saved me from having the bypass.”

With gastric by-pass departments now opening up in hospital pediatric units, Hahn remains determined to battle the painful, life-altering alternative for children, especially when healthy eating options exist and low-carb products are more readily available.

“With the long-term side effects from bypass, those children will never be normal again,” she says. Adults control those children, and they can start with little things like low-carb ketchup. Most don’t think of it as a sugar product, but that’s exactly what it is. And when you mix sugar with trans fats, you’re asking for obesity and heart disease.”

“Some people save puppies from the pound,” she adds. “I want to save people from gastric by-pass.”

While the menu at Pamela’s Eastside Café offers a host of traditional fares, one can’t help but notice the enticing low-carb alternatives such as omelets, pancakes and French toast with sugar-free syrup, cheater burgers, Splenda’d cole slaw (a customer favorite), super salads, not my mom’s meatloaf, salmon or New York steak, and 27 Splenda-based drinks. The meals are generous is size, and at $5.75 - $14.95, reasonably priced options for carb-conscious eaters.

The restaurant also boasts a healthier kids menu with fruit and salad in lieu of French fries or chips. At $2.95 - $3.95, parents can now feed their children for the same price as fast food.

“Kids love chicken nuggets, Hahn admits. “In a balanced sense, they’re not so bad and by adding these items, parents might feel emotionally obligated to order it that way. I even lowered the price so they couldn’t afford not to.”

Pamela’s Eastside Café is located at 2122 McKee Rd. For more information on the low-carb menu or classes, call (408) 254-4000.