Oldies but goodies on retirement home menu
Sushi, tapas, chili rellenos, foie gras? Not on the menu. At least not at several local retirement facilities.
But they may be in the near future, especially as the roughly 29 million Americans turning 60 this year start to think about retirement. As they choose senior housing, one big consideration will be the food.
"I think it's one of the key criteria," said Maura Ferrigno, executive director of the Inn at Robbins Brook in Acton.
Here's a window into the world of dining in three communities in our area. An admission: I have already eaten my way through a number of dining rooms during the search for my mother's senior housing. Don't expect haute cuisine or upscale restaurant fare, even in affluent communities. This food is for an older generation that dined at their country club on standard American cuisine, with a dash of French, Italian, Chinese, and Southwestern. And liquor is not on the menu either, but residents may have it served with their meals.
On a recent weekday, I met my nonagenarian host on "Main Street," an indoor promenade, for the daily meal provided to independent living residents. Main Street sports a lamppost village clock, cushioned wicker furniture, a billiards area, and services such as a general store, a bank, and a post office. There's also a 170-seat formal dining room and a 36-seat caf e that provides casual food and snacks.
Carleton-Willard Village is the oldest of the three sites I visited. Built in 1982 on a 65-acre estate of rolling hills, it seems more like a college campus with an older, well-heeled clientele. Entry begins at 65, and the average age of the 180 residents is 84.
Decorated in traditional forest green and burgundy fabrics, dark cherry furniture, and muted yellow walls, the Abbott Dining Room is a formal room with wait staff and white tablecloths.
"I can always find something I like," said my companion about the menu (guests, $10.50), once we were seated with other friends. That's saying something, since her appetite has waned in recent years. All three admitted they initially experienced the weight gain typical of college freshmen, then lost it.
No wonder, with the abundance of food. The self-serve salad bar was an appetizing meal in itself. The flavorful homemade feta, sun-dried tomato, and artichoke salad was hard to resist, as were the fresh mixed greens, bright red cherry tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, black olives, cottage cheese, and red onions. Also included were fresh fruit, provolone cheese, homemade banana nut bread, and a mixture of rolls.
The appetizer -- two small, flaky spinach-and-cheese phyllo triangles -- was perfunctory yet eagerly anticipated by one of our diners. Not realizing they were made from scratch, I skipped the American bounty soup and the mushroom and potato chowder.
I chose the poached salmon from the three entrée specials. Bland even with a chopped hard-boiled egg cream sauce, it is considered a healthful choice without the sauce. The remainder of the meal, all made in-house, was perfectly adequate -- crispy, not-too-oily fried eggplant, cheddar cheese-scalloped potatoes with bacon and chives, and strawberry mousse.
"What sells here? Home cooking," said Sanford Wong, senior director of dining and catering services for all the New England Deaconess facilities, including Newbury Court. Comfort food such as meat loaf, prime rib, and sirloin steak is especially popular.
In 1994 the not-for-profit New England Deaconess Association opened this six-story red brick apartment building for 150 independent seniors, and now, like Carleton-Willard, it has a waiting list. On the 35-acre site, this facility will soon include Newbury Commons, a new assisted living structure to go along with its nursing care facility.
I joined a long time friend in the cafe (guests, $13.95) decorated in a peach-and-green motif intensified by a lovely water view.
The homemade chicken rice soup contained the traditional chunks of chicken, rice, carrots, and broth, along with Westminster oyster crackers.
After a mix-up about which fish I ordered, the steaming, fresh sea bass arrived with a pat of house-made Cabernet butter. It was flaky, tender, and tasty, with only one tiny overdone spot. The hot turnip-and-carrot puree was a knockout. The low-sodium butter gently flavored the sweet, slightly chunky carrots accented with a light turnip taste. Unlike the overcooked braised escarole and tomatoes, they were an appealing way to enjoy your veggies.
Though occasionally the bread and desserts are prepared on the premises, usually they are purchased and were uninspiring, as was the rice pudding.
I'd like to return on a sunny day to try the Boursin-stuffed mushroom appetizer and braised short ribs and baked potato-crusted haddock entrée. Or, since the menus change seasonally, to see what chef Brian Reynolds, a Johnson & Wales University graduate, has been encouraged to invent.
Beyond a two-story foyer and living and dining rooms are several floors of apartments for residents who need traditional assisted living or have memory disorders such as Alzheimer's. Three meals are served every day in the regional, for-profit facility (guests, $6 lunch, $8 dinner). According to Ferrigno, mealtime is ideal for social interaction that fends off isolation and keeps residents healthier.
Executive chef Randy Farmer, who hails from the Florida country club circuit, has to satisfy a broad array of palates with the 1,500 meals he serves each week in the two dining rooms at the picture postcard, white clapboard New England inn.
The low-sodium sweet potato bisque was made with onion, fresh sweet potatoes, and homemade chicken stock. It was a delicate starter, seasoned with honey, ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Farmer uses his 20-year-old recipe for the warm, delicious pumpkin bread, made with canned pumpkin.
My favorite was the savory strudel filled with roasted salmon, spinach, and feta cheese, much like spanakopita. Even the white rice primavera made with frozen peas, fresh carrots, red pepper, onion, and a thyme-flavored chicken stock was tasty. The handful of colorful, basil-scented grape tomatoes, lightly seared in olive oil, was a good acidic foil to the strudel.
No wonder new residents gain an average of six pounds with a lunch menu that offers seven desserts. I chose those made by the chef: a thick, coconut-white chocolate cookie, which was rich and buttery, and a warm popover with low-sugar Smuckers apricot jam. The cookie, more white chocolate than coconut, was so good that I took half home to savor later.
Since the inn had several days ' notice of my visit, I wanted to know what the food tasted like to an average resident, especially with a sample dinner menu touting roasted New York sirloin with porcini mushroom sauce and the baked stuffed haddock with lobster sauce.
So I called one tenant, an amateur gourmand, who described dinner in the main dining room as "not the caliber of a country club," but more like "average home cooking," a statement that could characterize all three communities.
The similarities definitely outweigh the differences in the food offered at these retirement communities. Like any such venture, they are in the business of satisfying their customers, in this case a community whose members were born mostly in the 1920s and '30s. Food-savvy baby boomers will be expecting greater diversity and more risk-taking in their dining options.
"Communities that have high-quality services," said Ferrigno, "have got the seasoned chefs there waiting for the opportunity, so they'll be delighted when they can even be more risky and adventurous. . . . They're ready."
Let's hope they get the chance.
