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A chef-school grad reveals seven crafty restaurant tricks that lure you to more expensive items

I am totally proud. My younger son Ezra recently graduated from the CIA. Not the government spy agency but the Culinary Institute of America. Based in Hyde Park, N.Y., it trains chefs and restaurant managers, and according to its website, is “recognized as the world’s premier culinary college with an industry-wide reputation for excellence.” I hope so, because, over the years, we paid a lot of tuition.

Ezra’s education, however, included mastering some skills almost as surreptitious as those employed by a secret agent. Example: Menu engineering, the topic of his honors thesis.

“The menu is the heart of the restaurant. It embodies the restaurant’s demographics, concept, physical factors and personality,” Ezra wrote in solid prose that is an obvious genetic inheritance from his mother. But don’t kid yourself. A menu, he confided to me in an exclusive interview, is also a sales vehicle, and many restaurants — smart ones — use it to get you to eat right. And, we’re not talking about your health, but about their profits.

Read more: Tricks of the Restaurant Trade: 7 Ways Menus Make You Spend

Soup is out of the question. Julienned vegetables must be short enough that they can’t fly off a fork.

And finger foods? Forget it.

Otherwise, cooking for the G8 leaders at next week’s summit in Huntsville, Ont., is a piece of cake.

“The biggest part is the logistical side of it,” said Rory Golden, the executive chef at Deerhurst Resort, which presidents, prime ministers, reporters and hundreds of police officers will briefly call home.

“Trying to get all the different restaurants running, all the tents in place, all the equipment for the tents, those sorts of things … are more work than the actual cooking.”

Read more here: Actual cooking for G8 Summit leaders a piece of cake, says resort chef

A bill was introduced at Queen’s Park on Wednesday aiming to make eating out a healthier experience.

The private member’s bill from NDP health promotion critic France Gelinas would require major chain restaurants to list calories on their menus to encourage healthy eating across Ontario.

Read more here: Calorie counts on menus proposed for restaurant chains

Now I know why I never take my family out to eat. It’s only partly because it costs a fortune and because my kids will sit for all of seven minutes before the game of hide-and-seek under other patrons’ tables starts up — but it’s because of those awful CALORIES.

Enter KFC’s Double Down, 540 calories of salty bacon and cheese goodness sandwiched between fried chicken. You’ve heard a lot of talk about this. The guys in my office are in love with this sandwich and regularly make a lunchtime pilgrimage.

Read more here: KFC’s Double Down is healthy! (uh, compared to these meals … )