Dished: Maplewood’s Farm to Provide More Than Fresh Food

Maplewood Senior Living has ambitions to create top-flight urban senior housing, but is also undertaking a project far from the bustle of the city. The Westport, Connecticut-based provider has big plans for a farm that the company owns, which provides ingredients for its culinary operations. Farm-to-table cuisine is important to Maplewood CEO Greg Smith, who […]

Dished: Hot New Trends in Memory Care Dining

(Thrive Dining photo courtesy of Watermark Retirement Communities) The way some memory care programs feed their residents is rapidly changing. At many senior living communities, the standard mealtime practice for seniors with dementia is for caregivers to feed them things like chicken nuggets, fish sticks, french fries and purees. Those foods are easily identifiable and don’t require utensils to […]

Dished: Homestyle Meets Healthy to Improve Senior Living Dining

Finding the balance between much-loved comfort foods and healthier options is one of the struggles faced by senior living chefs nationwide—even award-winning ones. After all, serving healthy grains instead of fried chicken to senior living residents in Birmingham, Alabama, is likely to be met with resistance and complaints, St. Vincent’s Birmingham Executive Chef Mike Coots […]

Dished: Most Popular Cocktails in Senior Living

From onsite pubs and Bloody Mary bars to home brewing beer, senior housing as of late has aimed to appeal to the happy hour lover in every resident. Nearly 70% of assisted living residents drink alcohol—and more than one-third drink daily, according to a University of Pittsburgh study published in Research on Aging in 2012. […]

Dished: A Dining Club For The Brave Of Heart—And Stomach

Today’s senior living dining experience largely revolves around high-end food options and upscale venues. At one community in Illinois, the experience also hones in on adventure. Once a month, around two dozen residents gather in the main restaurant area at The Solana Deer Park, an Atria Senior Living Community located in Deer Park, Illinois, unsure […]

Dished: ‘Cutthroat’ Competition Hits Senior Living Dining

Cooking in a senior living community isn’t always straightforward. Chefs have to know their residents’ food preferences and dietary restrictions, and go on to prepare food that meets their needs and remains tasty, all while ensuring the staff gets plates on the table efficiently. Imagine, then, if the task were made even more complicated by […]

Dished: Inside a High-Rise CCRC’s Upscale Dining

Experience is the name of the game when it comes to senior living dining, and The Clare, a 53-story high-rise continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood, spent millions of dollars to provide residents with ultimate dining experiences. In late April, The Clare debuted new dining options to go above and beyond growing […]

Dished: Top-Tier Dining Built From the Ground Up

Dining in senior living as of late has been revolutionized by celebrity chefs and $10,000 gelato machines. So when senior living providers take more of a grassroots approach to developing a dining program—from staffing to acclaimed chocolate cake recipes—and still deliver a premium experience for its residents, it becomes clear that a celebrity chef isn’t […]

Dished: How Dining Can Be Senior Living’s Biggest Asset

From celebrity chefs and restaurant-caliber meals to upscale venues and unique programming, the senior living dining experience is anything but average. And while providers are increasingly using their dining programs as a marketing tool to entice prospective residents, they’re also using them as a way to attract top talent and rethink the staff training process. […]

Dished: Generational Divide Plays Out in Senior Living Dining

Staffing. It’s a major consideration for most operators, comprising a bulk of resources that go not only to hiring, but to training and retention of qualified senior living employees. Dining is no exception. Many providers have recently implemented programs to target and recruit the best and brightest chefs, dining management personnel and staff. And they’re […]