Restaurants don’t exist in a vacuum. Their chefs and owners may start by placing what they want on the menu, but sooner or later, a handful of diners will assert their own wishes.

Recently, Good to Grill has teamed up with professional football player Chad Owens on a "Power Up" menu of lean protein, omega-3-filled salmon, greens and a mix of slow- and fast-burning carbs, depending on different stages of a workout regimen.

It all started when owner Jason Kim and director of operations Pat Comer noticed Owens — who lives in the Kapa­hulu neighborhood off-season when he’s not playing for the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts — was dropping in daily, almost always opting for the grilled or Cajun salmon plate.

It was only during intense training for his spring MMA match, and in advance of football season, that he would start ordering the grilled steak.

After talking to Owens about the food he liked and his athlete’s dietary regimen, the "Power Up" menu was born. To date, it comprises a short list of five plates and an açai bowl, with a more healthful approach to dining than what one might expect from a restaurant known for its extensive menu of grilled meat.

"People don’t look at red meat as being good for you, so this adds another dimension to our menu," Comer said.

The menu was designed to offer lean proteins for sustained energy and carbohydrates for quick energy. These came out of Owens’ belief that the balance is critical for an optimal workout.

When I had last talked to the athlete, he was having a meal while still attending the University of Hawaii; at that time he wasn’t as discerning about what he ate.

"Now I know a lot more about the body," he said recently. "In college I tried to do the right thing, and you think you’re doing the right thing by avoiding fast food and not drinking. But I’m in better shape now than I’ve ever been, based on how I feel."

Then there’s performance. Last fall, Owens, a wide receiver and kick returner, won the CFL Most Outstanding Player Award. "You have to make sacrifices," he said. "It’s even hard for me. I’m human."

But the "Power Up" menu doesn’t register as much of a sacrifice. The new or revamped plates are:

» A kiawe-grilled tofu burger ($8.99) topped with olive-garlic aioli, served on ciabatta bread with cauliflower mash and baked Okinawan sweet potatoes. I found two pieces of bread too much, so preferred the tofu — protein-rich and easy to digest — open face, with just one piece of bread.

» Cajun salmon ($10.99) served over angel hair pasta with a side of cauliflower mash and Okinawan sweet potatoes.

» Kiawe-grilled New York steak ($11.99) served with a baked sweet potato stuffed with cauliflower mash, and served with a side salad of fresh spinach and kale.

» CO2 Surf and Turf ($12.99) combo plate of kiawe-grilled salmon topped with sautéed spinach, and kiawe-grilled chicken breast, accompanied by a baked sweet potato stuffed with cauliflower mash and side salad of kale, spinach and açai berries.

» Mighty Mouse Wrap, so named because of the nickname given the 5-foot-8, 180-pound Owens at UH, where he played for the Warriors through 2004, as "a wiry little guy no one could catch," Comer said. This wrap of red leaf lettuce, spinach, nutritious Indian red quinoa and cauliflower purée in a spinach wrap ($7.99) is admirable from a nutrition standpoint but a little too healthful for my taste.

» CO2 Açai Bowl ($8.50) adds up to meal or dessert heaven with its combination of crunchy, light 100 percent hemp granola, organic bananas, strawberries and blueberries, sweetened with antioxidant açai purée and honey. This contains no corn syrup or processed sugars, and the fiber content has a cleansing effect.

Since introducing the menu, the staff at Good to Grill have learned that people who don’t like cauliflower are enjoying the cauliflower mash, which delivers vitamin C, fiber, folate, several phytochemicals and carotenoids beneficial to good health. It’s a good replacement for the simple carb content of mashed potatoes, which raises blood sugar levels.

Purple sweet potatoes are also rich in vitamins and minerals and, as a complex carb, take longer to digest and don’t raise sugar levels in the blood as quickly as simple carbs.

More dishes are in development, and I wonder how far we are from the day when every restaurant has a nutritionist on its staff to work with patrons who are taking increased interest in their health, to the point that they’re not willing to "splurge" on calories and fat when they leave their own kitchens.

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Nadine Kam‘s restaurant columns appear Wednesdays in the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.