Chef's Table Article

Hello Friends,
Welcome to the Holiday Edition of the Chef's Table. Before we get into the Christmas spirit, let me take a minute and look back on our Thanksgiving Dinner. It was worthy of all the hype and fanfare. The dining rooms were absolutely beautiful. The harvest gold table cloths and napkins brought a festive, yet elegant appearance. The meal was prepared and served with both style and grace. It takes coordination, preparation, culinary talent, and workmanship prepare a Thanksgiving Feast. We have all of that. So, a heartfelt thank you to my entire staff for all of their hard work both on the scene and behind the scene. Thank you.

Now, off to Christmas. The Santa Chef is all about bringing tidings of cheer and joy to our residents. On Donner, on Dancer, on Stormy, on Nixon. Our Christmas dinner this year will be Baked Stuffed Shrimp with roasted red potatoes, and fresh snipped green beans. Of course we will serve our very own (now famous, according to our many food article reviews) apple pie for dessert. The Santa Chef will also wow everyone with our yearly resident and family dinner. The reindeer will be quite busy preparing baked stuffed holiday chicken, with sausage and apple stuffing. Have you ever tried to put an apron on a reindeer? (Glad this happens only once a year). Trying to get them to wash their hooves and wear gloves is no easy matter either but, ho ho, ho, I digress. We will also serve a wonderful variety of in shop desserts, candies, and petite fors. For those family members who are unable to join us for this holiday gathering on December 11th, or for those who would like to attend both events, the Santa Chef will be serving an evening hors d' oeuvers hour on Monday December 15th.

We hope that your Holiday Season is both memorable and enjoyable. Happy Holidays from our wonderful staff to you!

It is great to be king.

It really is great to be king. At the very least no one criticises you to your face, and at best you get a chance to put ideas, and visions into effect. There probably is no greater industry than food service that allows such lattitude to be creative. It can come from the obvious such as food preparation, and presentation. It also can come from marketing your services. I am just beginning to realize how great a tool it is to get what you do out to the people you serve. In this case I am talking about our residents and thier families. I am convinced that what is prepared and served here @ Orchard View Manor is consistently great. I know it, my staff knows it, but do the residents and thier family members know it. I have a saying, you are only as good as your last meal. So put your heart into it. Serving something less than what was expected opens you up for critisism for the entire day. If you buy into this concept, then the rest is easy. Now what you have to do is market this approach to every one. If your nursing home has a monthly newsletter, take the time to put an article in it. Tell the readers what you are doing with food, write about special functions. Keep hammering away at what a wonderful food service operation you run. Be persistent. Put a recipe in the newsletter, could be as simple as a meatloaf. Family members love to be informed about what thier loved ones are eating. They want to be know what goes on behind the scenes. This is a great way to get the gospel out to them.