Whole 30: Eating Out at Oyamel, Starbucks & Dino

I eat out a lot. I mean, a lot.

So, any behavioral changes with regards to what I eat is never going to work long term if I can't make it work at restaurants. Part of the reason this Whole 30 paleo challenge has worked for me (yes, I know it's only been two days) is that I haven't felt hungry. Yesterday, I didn't cook one damn thing. 

I started off for lunch with my team at Oyamel, knowing there are multiple options for small plates of vegetables, seafood and meats. I would just have to be vigilant about asking them to remove things like cheese, beans and sugar. But then I remembered that over the summer, one of my favorite meals there was the Pork Belly Torta - essentially a BLT made with pork belly. When I had it, it was so overwhelmingly filling but delicious that I dumped the sandwich insides onto lettuce so that I could keep eating it. So this time, I started out that way, and it was awesome:

Pork Belly Torta, sans torta at Oyamel

As we left lunch, I was thinking outloud, "I'm full, but mentally I feel like I want something sweet. It's weird. I don't really. But I kind of feel like I need something." My friend said she needed coffee and I knew the perfect solution to kill my craving but stay on track: the Starbucks Breve Latte (pronounced brev-ay). It's basically a latte made with heavy cream and it is smooth, warm and creamy. I can drink far less of it and feel satisfied: 

Breve Latte at Starbucks

I had made the paleo-friendly Bolognese sauce and saved single servings, but I just didn't feel like cooking last night. On the way home, I shared some with my friend Amy who's also doing Whole 30 and she traded me a spaghetti squash (which will make a great meal this weekend.)

I had been tweeting with Dean Gold, owner of my favorite neighborhood Italian joint, Dino. He noticed that I was trying to stick to paleo and told me to pop by and challenge his chef. They do have a ton of things on the menu that are easy to tweak and stay on program. I chose the beet salad (which came with a vinegar-based cucumber slaw and tangy grapefruit slices to start. For dinner, I was going to have the Bollito Misto (which has *six* meats involved), but I was in a seafood mood and I knew from Steve Vilnit's Maryland Seafood updates that rockfish, crab and oysters are in season right now. So I chose the Chesapeake rockfish with squash. 

Beet Salad at Dino

Chesapeake Rockfish with Squash

So, what restaurants do you think are simple to make paleo-style choices? I find that most restaurants are fairly easy to tweak. Got ideas of what I should try next? Leave me a message in the comments!