Ballpark Frank: Hungry Girl Lisa Lillien Tests Nationals Park Eats

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THE NATIONALS ARE famous for losing, so perhaps it's not so surprising that Lisa Lillien wanted to show up for a game. Lillien, after all, is a notable loser herself — of weight. You may know her better as Hungry Girl (Hungry-girl.com), the diet trick-dispensing, recipe-tweaking, New York Times best-selling arbiter of eating for legions of similarly ravenous fans. And last Monday night in D.C., she was on her usual mission: hunting for foods worthy of the HG stamp of the approval.

"I like it all: hot dogs, pretzels, peanuts. I can't lie," she admitted. But "all" doesn't jibe with the Weight Watchers points system, especially in a ballpark with a never-ending string of concessions touting funnel cake, pepperoni pizza, chicken tenders and cheesesteak.

That's when Nationals Park executive chef Terry Louzon of Levy Restaurants swooped in. "We heard the cries of parents and the next generation of healthier eaters," he promised and then whisked Lillien off for a tour of what was cooking.

At the exclusive Diamond Club and Presidents Club, the spreads include "Farm to Fork" stations, with "the freshest local and organic ingredients we can provide," Louzon bragged. Nearby were heaps of salads and antipasti — oven-dried tomatoes, marinated artichokes, grilled asparagus.

Although the masses can't get a taste of the honey rosemary rainbow carrots, Louzon explained they can opt for turkey burgers or veggie dogs in the outdoor concessions. Or, they can head over to one of the newest park carts, the Healthy Plate. Launched this season, the menu consists of wraps, a nonfat yogurt parfait, veggies with hummus, fruit and salads. "It sells out almost every night. We want to add another one," Louzon said.

As soon as he waved good-bye, Lillien's eyes zeroed in on those wraps. "Just because it's from the Healthy Plate doesn't mean it's healthy. They could be tricksters," she warned. Back at Hungry Girl headquarters in L.A., Lillien and her staff often bring in food for nutrition dissection experiments, such as weighing the amount of rice in a serving of supermarket sushi. When Louzon mentioned that the turkey wrap comes with a roasted garlic-thyme aioli, Lillien got suspicious, so she ordered one.

"Feel how heavy that is," she said. Then she unwrapped the sandwich. "Look at the size of this tortilla. This is like a trampoline. I would put this at 350 calories alone," she said. The 3 ounces of turkey passed the test — it's probably about 150 calories. The tomato and romaine were just fine. But that sauce was deemed to be the worst thing possible: shiny. "Anything that's shiny is oil," Lillien explained. Adding it all up, she estimated the entire wrap at 700 to 800 calories. (And, somewhat suspiciously, Nationals Park doesn't have nutritional information available for the Healthy Plate items.)

If she had to order from the cart, Lillien said she'd "get no sauce, get rid of half the tortilla and make my own roll-up." But she didn't have to — and, instead, set off to explore other options.

In just a few steps, she arrived at Ben's Chili Bowl, home of the 260-calorie, 8-ounce serving of veggie chili (if you skip the cheese). Lillien took a bite of tomatoes, peppers and protein crumbles, and immediately raised a thumb. "I would totally eat this," she decreed. Not only did it meet her caloric concerns, but it satisfied the other key Hungry Girl requirement that one should never feel deprived. Chili is legitimate comfort food.

So, what's for dessert? Lillien headed to a Dippin' Dots cart for a sample of rainbow ice. A full serving is just 90 calories. And because the portions are so controlled, even chocolate dots are a mere 165 — far lower than seemingly lower-calorie choices that come in vast quantities, such as popcorn or peanuts.

But Hungry Girl's home run was at Krazee Ice, which posted a menu of 10 fruit flavors. "Which ones come in sugar-free?" she inquired. "All of them," the vendor replied. With a scoop of zero-calorie blue raspberry ("Lovely!"), she was ready to watch some baseball.

Photo by Lawrence Luk for Express