Showing up at the bar in your workout clothes isn't generally considered good form. But this Thursday, July 16, that'll be the dress code at Mason Bar at Loews Vanderbilt Hotel. That evening the bar is hosting Healthy Happy Hour with Erin Oprea. She's a fitness trainer who works with a number of celebrities (including Carrie Underwood) and created a new on-the-go fitness program for Loews guests. The Healthy Happy Hour is an extension of that effort.
"You do not want all your hard work to get fit at home to go to waste when you are on the road," Oprea says of the program she developed to help hotel guests eat right and work out even when their regular routine is disrupted.
This week's free event includes healthy snacks from chef Brandon Frohne and the opportunity to ask Oprea nutrition and fitness questions (such as, "How do I get legs like Carrie Underwood?") while sipping specialty drinks (the Mandarin Smash healthy cocktail will be $8 along with 20-ounce Bud Light drafts for $5; herb-infused water is free). Oprea will guide happy hour-goers through some basic fitness moves, but won't lead a full-on workout.
Oprea worked with Frohne to develop the menu for both the happy hour and for healthy dining for hotel guests based on some principles she follows, including not eating starches in the evenings. Frohne concedes, "Being a chef, you want to be able to use fat in everything, because fat tastes good."
Brandon Frohne
But Frohne himself has gone through phases of adapting menus for himself — having stuck to vegetarian and vegan diets at different points in his life — so he had ideas of how to use spices in healthy ways. The other "secrets," he says, were to watch sugars and portion sizes.
Dishes served while you and Oprea discuss your workouts include curried portobello fries with ricotta and blueberry pesto, and beet chips with smoked goat cheese and squash salsa.
Healthy Happy Hour takes place 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Mason Bar at Loews Vanderbilt Hotel, 2100 West End Ave. Complimentary valet and self-parking is available.
