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.

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.

What role do residents play in food services?
We love resident feedback. We have comment cards on every table, and our directors and chefs are encouraged to visit with people to learn what they love and what they don’t care for. Many of our communities do have food committees that meet once a month to discuss their dining experiences. They offer menu suggestions and help with special events, such as Cinco de Mayo, the Super Bowl, Kentucky Derby and holidays. We also let them try new recipes before they’re officially added to the menus. They get to try and then share with the rest of the community what they can look forward to. With the number of residents we have across all the properties, we really get a variety of feedback.

Do the residents have any favorite dishes?
Fried chicken, meatloaf and beef tenderloin are always very popular. Residents also love soups and desserts.

How does Delmar Gardens engage with the St. Louis community?
We have our Creative Cuisine program. We invite the public, residents and their family and friends to a four-course culinary demonstration over a three to four week period. Each week a different course is prepared. Our owner, Gabe Grossberg, believes in beautiful meals made with the best ingredients to supply our residents and the community with wonderful dining experiences. He has been part-owner in a number of restaurants in the St. Louis area, and he has an awesome background and expert knowledge in menu development and creative food preparation and service. He enjoys reviewing the menus that the directors create.

scallopini de pollo

ingredients 
4 boneless chicken breasts, pounded thin
5 tbsp. butter
5 tbsp. olive oil
½ lb. cremini or portobello mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp. garlic
½ c. white wine
½ c. chicken stock
½ c. heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp. chopped parsley for garnish
Shredded Parmesan cheese for garnish

directions

  1. Heat half the oil and butter in a pan. Sauté mushrooms and remove from pan.
  2. Heat remaining butter and oil. Add chicken breast and sauté, turning once until browned and almost done. Remove.
  3. Add garlic, then white wine and chicken stock, let reduce. Next add cream, seasoning, mushrooms and chicken to reheat.
  4. Serve over angel hair pasta. Garnish with parmesan cheese and parsley.