Exploring Life & Business with Stephen Menyhart of Unrestricted Nutrition

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephen Menyhart.

Hi Stephen, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?

My career in food started at age 17 as a line cook at Cottage Inn Pizza in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I stayed in the fine dining cooking world until age 30, spending a year in London and almost a decade in Chicago.

When my first child was born, I had a change of perspective, and wasn’t receiving the same reward from cooking in restaurants. I completed by first Bachelor’s Degree at the Center for Inner City Studies in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, and then entered work in the school nutrition sector, feeding children.

I’ve always been fascinated by food and our relationship to it, and working with children ages 3-18 and their families allowed for learning, education, and community connections.

I went back to school to become a Registered Dietitian at age 35, and attended Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. After graduation with a degree in Culinary Nutrition, I moved with my family to Colorado, where I worked in the Boulder Valley School District Food Service Department for 10 years, including the pandemic period, when we were feeding the entire community. That remains one of the most significant achievements of my professional life, and was also a time we all learned the massive gaps in the food network in our country.

Beginning in 2023, I shifted to work in the Outpatient Clinical role as a Registered Dietitian working primarily with individuals affected by eating disorders and disordered eatings. I specialize in ARFID and Binge Eating Disorder, but work with clients at any phase in their work and recovery process.

My skill set includes using my chef background to guide clients through virtual kitchen work in their own homes, complementing traditional talk-based nutrition counseling. I have often found this kitchen-based work helpful with tangible client breakthroughs in their relationships with food.

Other specialty client areas include male-identifying individuals struggling with eating disorders. I also enjoy working with neurodiverse clients and exploring how their unique perspectives shape their relationship with and experience of food. In my professional experience, men with eating disorders are often inaccurately diagnosed and overlooked, and I hope to be an understanding part of the recovery journey for those clients.

I work closely on a volunteer basis with two Denver-based nonprofit organizations. The Eating Disorder Foundation offers an immense amount of no cost virtual group meetings, for specific audiences affected by eating disorders. I co-host a monthly men’s meeting, and I love the reach and mission of the organization. I also work closely with CHOW (Culinary Hospitality Outreach Wellness) – a group devoted to providing mental health resources and virtual and in-person group meetings specifically for people working in the food/beverage/hospitality sector.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I have had my own mental health challenges. I was diagnosed concurrently with several neurodivergences/diagnoses in my early 40’s, and am still in the process of better understanding myself, and not allowing myself to be defined by those differences. I have learned that a regular schedule of individual therapy, group therapy, and a focus on health and wellness in all areas of my life is critical to maintaining balance.

And for anyone raising children, they know the inevitable tension between professional and person life is a challenging one to balance, even in the best of times.

As you know, we’re big fans of Unrestricted Nutrition. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Stefanie Ginsberg is a badass person and practitioner, and when I met her we struck up a quick conversation with ease. She has a seriousness that also has space for levity and joy. That is the type of person I like to work for.

Stefanie hired me in fall of 2026, and I had previously taken her ARFID certification course. My clientele now includes ARFID clients from age 10-40+, as well as other clients challenged by other elements of eating disorders and disordered eating. I also focus on men and male-identifying clients, but I am taking on new clients of all descriptions.

Working with the group has allowed to me to be a part of a highly functional team of clinical RD’s with a depth of experience that I value highly.

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I love living in Boulder, steps from a trailhead, but then also being able to drive or bus into Denver to attend incredible theater at the Performing Arts Center, eat top-notch food of all descriptions, and revel in the open-ness of our social fabric in Colorado.

My only significant dislike/challenge with Boulder, where I reside, is the lack of affordable housing, and the relative lack of economic diversity.
Despite that, there is nowhere else I’d rather be at this point in my life, and I feel lucky to live here.

Contact Info:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-menyhart-rd-ldn-sns-b1548a15/

Image Credits
Alax Kandalaft (both of the bodykind vail photos)