Retirement communities step up food selections
Beginning next year, Redstone Highlands will spice up mealtime at its four Westmoreland County retirement communities with an expanded menu, interactive cooking stations and more flexible dining hours as part of an effort to attract younger senior citizens.
“We do restaurant-style dining already,” says Redstone CEO and President John Dickson, “but we're going to create an environment that is entertaining as well as nourishing … that makes the dining experience even more pleasurable.”
Some cooking will move from the kitchen to the dining room, where residents can watch their food being prepared, and guest chefs occasionally will be invited to make special meals. Redstone already features scratch-cooking with cage-free eggs, sustainably harvested seafood and locally grown produce; but menus are being redesigned to offer diners a broader selection in terms of both pricing and taste, says Sue Lantzsch, regional vice president of Morrison Community Living, Redstone's food service provider.
As with many retirement communities, the median age of a Redstone resident is 80, but their numbers are dwindling, and wooing folks in their 60s means giving people options, especially at mealtime, Lantzsch says.
“We're helping senior communities market to a younger generation of older folks. The GI generation — my mom's generation — grew up with meatloaf and mashed potatoes. They don't want chicken with fancy sauces. But boomers — the ‘silent generation' — are asking, ‘When are we going to have couscous? How about sushi? Where are the fajitas?' ”
Redstone still will offer what Lantzsch calls the steady Eddies — fried cod with French fries and mac ‘n cheese — but lobster and prime rib also will rotate through the menu, she says. And while Redstone currently has a BYOB policy at dinner, it recently secured a liquor license so it can sell alcoholic beverages as well, says Lantzsch, 60. “My generation likes a glass of wine with dinner. We want to have beer with our popcorn on Steeler Sundays.”
Perks like these are part of a national trend, says Lantzsch, whose company cooks for 450 retirement communities. “Right now, in the senior living world, we're at a turning point. If we don't satisfy what younger seniors want — seniors 60 to 75 — they won't be happy.
“They want to know they can get what they want when they want it,” she says.
Other upscale retirement communities already have embraced that trend. At Brookdale Mt. Lebanon, residents dine at white-clothed tables, ordering from among eight to 10 different entrees a night that range from seared duck breast with orange sauce to chicken wings.
“We're the opposite of the bland institutional food people associate with retirement communities,” says chef Vince Mangan, Brookdale Mt. Lebanon's director of dining services. “Baby boomers are the generation that taught the rest of us how to cook, and the ones who live here have pretty high expectations.”
Mealtimes offer a sensory as well as a social experience that remains important with age, says Mangan, noting that Brookdale developed a line of signature seasonings it uses at its 1,100 retirement communities, including Brookdale Latrobe. “They're low in sodium or sodium-free and designed to provide extra flavor for people who have lost some ability to taste.”
Cooking demonstrations let residents see favorite foods such as shrimp scampi being prepared. “It's interactive. People like being part of that, of watching ingredients come together,” he says, noting that it makes the kitchen seem less removed.
Residents are invited to help plan menus, which are then approved by Brookdale's corporate dietician to ensure they are nutrient dense, Mangan says. “This generation is passionate about their food. They're the ones who prepared foods from scratch — good home-cooked meals — and recognized the importance of families sitting around the table.”
John Boyer, 89, moved into Brookdale Mt. Lebanon with his wife Lois five months ago. “We came with no expectations, and have been completely surprised by the quality and tastiness of the food,” he says. “We like that we can take wine to dinner, that we can buy wine and beer on Saturday and Sunday nights.”
Sherwood Oaks in Cranberry has been ahead of the curve with its restaurant-style approach to dining, says executive chef Fred Buchanan, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park.
Dinner selections may include fresh grilled trout with chive butter, braised chicken with warm puff-pastry crust, or chargrilled pork tenderloin marinated in herbs.
“These are the kinds of standard items we serve every day,” Buchanan says. “We have a farm-to-table emphasis here, and pride ourselves on making just about everything from scratch. We're not a heat-and-serve or a Stouffer's (frozen) kitchen.”
To keep residents involved with food, Buchanan does cooking demonstrations and take-out, which recently included pumpkin soup with crème fraiche, served in hand-carved mini-pumpkins, and waffles stuffed with cheesecake and cherries. “The waffles were a huge hit,” he says. “I had to make another three batches because people gobbled them up.”
Comfort foods are always popular, says Buchanan, who gives them a healthful spin. “We'll use zucchini in place of noodles in some of our pasta dishes. If someone has special dietary needs, I'll substitute cornstarch for flour in our coq au vin.”
Residents come from versatile backgrounds, and are discerning about what they eat, he says. “A lot were doctors or lawyers and invested well so they could live in their later years at nice standards. They'll suggest things they'd like and I'll do the research. I'm always challenged. ”
Sherwood Oaks resident Ruth Becker, 82, has no complaints. “The thing that wipes me out is the wonderful way they do vegetables like fennel and collard greens, stuff I didn't cook,” says Becker, a retired Lutheran minister. “They prepare what's in season and address it with honor.
“And the camaraderie between the chefs and those of us filling our plates is just lovely,” she says.
Deborah Weisburg is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.
