1 minute read
ON THE MENU: Delmar Gardens
by stephanie wallace
With 20 communities in five states, Delmar Gardens has served thousands of seniors. For Kathy Billingsley, director of dining and nutrition services, that means ensuring wonderful dining experiences for everyone including those in independent living and individuals in skilled nursing and memory care. She uses her 20 years of experience to ensure each meal is worth savoring.
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What dining options are available at Delmar Garden communities?
It really depends on the specific community, but most of our dining rooms offer a formal breakfast, lunch and dinner. We also always have menu items that are available 24 hours a day. Even if the dining room is closed, the kitchen has dishes for the residents. This is people’s home; we want them to feel like they can get what they want at any time.
How do you handle menu creation across communities?
We have fabulous chefs and culinary directors at each community who tailor each menu to their locations. We offer guidelines, and every menu has to be approved by the home office. I love seeing the creativity everyone brings with their unique backgrounds. When finalizing menus, we look for variety, texture and color. The last thing we want for residents is a repetitive experience. We switch up the menus seasonally, and we try to use resident feedback to incorporate what they would like to see.
Are there any special challenges that come with designing menus for different care levels?
We want to do the best we can for the large population we serve. Some residents might be sensitive to salt or prefer certain preparations. It’s also important to make sure that our skilled nursing and memory care residents aren’t left out. They can enjoy the regular menus, and we can take steps to alter them for soft diets. Some foods are a little more challenging, but our staff puts in the work to get it to the right consistency without sacrificing flavor. We also try to have a lot of stimulating items for them, like popping popcorn.
