Cooking up an interest in food

He’s a certified chef, holds a diploma in wine technology, and has owned several restaurants, so Shepherd definitely has an interest in good food.

But the real reason why he has a nutrition-focused practice is simple. As he puts it, “I like to eat.”

“I’m trained as a chef, so I’ve always had an interest in food,” he says. “I got tired of explaining individually to my patients time and time again about healthy alternatives, how to read labels, how to make the right nutrition decisions, how to do it easily, and how to be able to prepare meals in 30 minutes, because I would always get people telling me ‘I don’t have time to prepare meals.’ I was trying to tell them, ‘Yeah, you do, and you have to.’”

So, rather than repeat himself, Shepherd is writing a cookbook that will help his patients and anyone else interested follow his nutritional protocols.

The plan is for the book to be divided into two sections. The first half will be informative, answering such queries as: What is nutrition? What are some of the common misconceptions about nutrition? What is some of the incorrect information put out there by the marketers to sell products?

The latter half will detail how to follow the guidelines toward a healthy lifestyle, how to make smarter (and affordable) food choices, and how to organize a nutritional plan for an individual or family, with information broken down into food groups and recipes, and additional information between organic and nonorganic foods.

“They’ll not only have a road map of how to do it, but also how to throw the things together,” Shepherd says.

Shepherd’s specialty is Pacific Rim cuisine, a very light style that emphasizes steaming, raw foods, stir fry, grilled, al dente, and julienne dishes. Pacific Rim is fusion cooking, with many styles, spices, tastes, and textures combined. It’s designed to not only taste good and be healthy, but look good in its presentation.

“There’s a lot of things going on,” he says. “It’s not all covered in one sauce or cheese or something. It’s almost like art on a plate.”

Shepherd was initially drawn toward the kitchen as a hotel owner several years ago. His hotel had three restaurants and four bars. He often found himself in the kitchens making suggestions. The chefs would shoo him away.

“My chefs used to get upset when I would go into the kitchen and make suggestions,” he says with a laugh. “They were like, ‘Get out. I know you own this, but you’re not a chef.’ I thought, ‘You know, you’ve got a point,’ so I figured I might learn. So, I went to culinary school.”

Although Shepherd no longer cooks professionally, he still cooks for fun and occasionally is asked to do dinner parties on weekends. “Since I don’t get to do too much fly fishing in Dallas,” Shepherd says, “I cook.”