C H R I S T Y E D WA R D S , R D N , C D
PUTTING THE “ME” IN MENUS
DHS 83.41 FOOD SERVICE
• The CBRF shall make reasonable adjustments to the
menu for the individual resident’s food likes, habits,
customs, conditions and appetites.
• The CBRF shall prepare weekly menus and shall
make menus available to residents. Deviations from
the planned menu shall be documented on the
menu.
WEEKLY MENU
DHS 83.41 FOOD SERVICE
• Nutrition: The CBRF shall provide each resident with
palatable food that meets the recommended
dietary allowance based on current dietary
guidelines for Americans and any special dietary
needs of each resident.
NUTRITIONALLY ADEQUATE
FOOD CODE
• Person in charge has the responsibility to include
food allergy awareness in food safety training for
employees.
• Make part of the new employee orientation and do
periodic training.
ALLERGEN PROGRAM CONSIDERATIONS
• Have policy to ask every resident upon admission
and before first meal if they have any food allergies.
• If yes, require a visit from the kitchen manager,
chef, supervisor or dietitian before serving a meal.
• Validate sanitation program to avoid cross
contamination.
• Dedicate storage areas with allergen warnings on
container.
WHAT WOULD MICK JAGGER WANT?
http://www.retirementhomes.com/library/what-would-mick-jagger-want
#1. Choice of Dining—
What and where to eat
#2. Holistic Health
Feed their mind, hearts and souls.
#3. VIP Service
Concierge desk to service needs
#4. Technology
EMERGING TRENDS
Choice
Bistros/Menu/
Restaurant Style
Soup/Sandwich option or Soup Kettle Feature
Salad Bar/Buffets
Made to order breakfast
Happy Hour
Coffee Time
Dessert Carts
Salad Carts
Beverage Carts
Signature Dishes
Snack Shops/Stations
Pizza Delivery
Room Service
Pasta Bar, Baked Potato Bar, Pizza Bar
Choose Your Portion
Ice Cream Shop
Breakfast All Day
Food courts
Ethnic Foods
Green/Organic Foods
24 hour dining options
Fresh Food
Grab & Go Items
Fireside Grill
Bleu Barn
Restaurants in Senior
Communities
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS):
Liberalized diets should be the norm, restricted diets should be the exception. Generally weight stabilization and adequate
nutrition are promoted by serving residents regular or minimally restricted diets.13
Research suggests that a liberalized diet can enhance the quality of life and nutritional status of older adults in long‐term care
facilities. Thus, it is often beneficial to minimize restrictions, consistent with a resident’s condition, prognosis, and choices before
using supplementation. It may also be helpful to provide the residents their food preferences, before using supplementation. This
pertains to newly developed meal plans as well as to the review of existing diets. Dietary restrictions, therapeutic (e.g., low fat or
sodium restricted) diets, and mechanically altered diets may help in select situations. At other times, they may impair adequate
nutrition and lead to further decline in nutritional status, especially in already undernourished or at‐risk individuals.
LIBERALIZE DIETS
HOW IS YOUR DINING PROGRAM PERCEIVED?
• Potential Customers
• Current Customers
• Employees
• Community Members
• Healthcare Partners
• Competitors
Find out what others are Doing……
Enhance the Dining Room
SATISFACTION SURVEY
Resident Observations
Family Observations
Employee Observations
Mystery Diner
RESIDENT COUNCIL MEETINGS
Complaints:
“The vegetables are too mushy”.
“The vegetables are too hard”.
“The meat is too dry”.
“I have to wait too long for my meal to be served”.
“Who do you have cooking back there?”
“The food is cold”
“This isn’t how I used to make it”
RESIDENT COUNCIL
• Likes and dislikes are different.
• Food is personal to your customers.
• This is there home.
• Everyone has an opinion on food.
• Food network has made many “food experts”
RESIDENT COUNCIL
• Bring a treat or new recipe idea to the food
council/resident council meeting. Food usually
makes people happy!
• Consider letting residents plan a menu occasionally
and use their recipes.
• Meet with chronic complainers one-on-one.
• Ask for ideas for events—involve them in the
planning of the event.
• Review progress from previous meeting.
RESOURCES TO HELP YOUR COOKS
• Review vegetable
cookery
• Consider implementing
batch cooking.
BATCH COOKING
JUST-IN-TIME FOOD PREPARATION WORKSHEET 1. Determine the number of portions for each service period. Ÿ What is the estimated number of portions to be served for the whole meal? A. ____Ÿ How many 15, 20 or 30 minute service periods during the meal period? B. ____
(Determine whether the product should be in batches for the amount served in a 20 to 30 minute service period. Some foods will need to be cooked in batches served in a 15-minute time period.) Ÿ Calculate the number of portions needed for each service period (A ÷ B = C). C. 2. What is the total amount of time needed to finish pre-preparation for one batch? Consider the time needed for: Ÿ Loading and unloading the equipment Ÿ Cooking Ÿ Finishing the product with seasoning, sauces, and/or garnish Ÿ Taking the finished product to the service line 3. Determine the “Start Time” and the “Service Time” for each batch of the product. Set up a production schedule for the convenience product.
Example: Individual Cheese Pizza Estimated servings: 500 Batch Pre-Preparation Time Batch Size: 6 pans = 96 servings
Task: Time Needed:Planning/prepping 5 minutesBaking/Finishing 13 minutesLine Replacement 2 minutesTotal Prep Time 20 minutes
Production Schedule:Start Time Service Time Servings Needed11:10 a.m. 11:30 a.m. 6 pans/96 servings11:30 a.m. 11:50 a.m. 6 pans/96 servings11:50 a.m. 12:10 p.m. 6 pans/96 servings12:10 p.m. 12:30 p.m. 6 pans/96 servings12:30 p.m. 12:50 p.m. 6 pans/96 servings
DO YOUR COOKS HAVE STANDARDIZED RECIPES?
•Achieve consistent product
•Know food/labor costs
•Know how much time to prepare
•Know the ingredients required
•Offer a consistent yield
HOW DO YOU MAKE A TURKEY SANDWICH?
• 2 slices bread or bun or wrap?
• Cheese or no cheese
• Lettuce and tomato
• Butter or mayo?
• How much turkey?
CONVENIENCE VS HOMEMADE
• Ice cream cups
• $15.00/48/4oz
• $.31 each
• Hand dipping ice cream
• $24.00/3 gallon
• 96 servings
• Labor: 1 hour/$8.00
• Total $32.00
$.33 per serving
CONVENIENCE VS HOMEMADE
• Krusteaz• $41.00/144 each
• Labor 15 min at $8.00/hour = $2.00
• Total = $43.00
• $.30 each
• Homemade• 50 slices texas toast $7.42
• 3 cup liquid eggs $1.90
• 1.5 qt milk $1.19
• ½ cup sugar $.10
• Labor 45 min at $8.00/hr = $6.00
• Total $16.61
• $.33 each
STANDARDS FOR PLATE PRESENTATION
STANDARDS FOR MEAL PREP
STANDARDS FOR CHOICE MENU PREP
PENNIES TO GARNISH…..
REMEMBER MODIFIED DIETS TOO…
Mechanical Soft Pureed
CREATING THE “PERFECT” MENU
• No complaints from customers
• Meeting customer expectations
• Marketing tool for senior community
• Little food waste
• Meet Nutrition regulations
• Dietary staff able to prepare meals
• Meet your budget
EVOLVING MENU
• What new items do your residents want or
items that they don’t like?
• Involve your dining team!
• What is trendy?
• Consider help from your sales rep
• Plate waste study
• Theme days
• Have menu meetings to discuss recipe
changes, menu changes, etc.• Is there a meal that involves too much oven space?
CAN YOU AFFORD IT?
TOTAL COST $1.23
Sweet Potato
Fries
$0.39
Apple Chicken
Sandwich
$0.84
TOTAL COST $0.94
TOTAL COST $1.10
Garlic Chicken
Pasta
$0.95
Dinner Roll
$0.15
TOTAL COST $1.58
Sweet Potato
Waffle Fries
$0.35
Pot Roast Grilled
Cheese
$1.23
TOTAL COST $1.46
Vegetable Blend
$0.27
Honey Dijon Pork
$0.77
Garlic Mashed
Cauiflower
$0.42
TOTAL COST $0.95
TOTAL COST $1.43
Wild Rice
$0.20
Honey Mustard
Chicken
$1.13
Balsamic Kale &
Apples
$0.10
TOTAL COST $1.51
Balsamic Green
Beans
$0.25
Mixed Greens
$0.32
Tuscan Crusted
Cod
$0.94
TOTAL COST $1.98
Citrus Salsa
Salmon
$1.68
Quinoa
with Toasted
Walnuts
$0.25
HELP YOUR RESIDENTS TRY NEW FOODS
• Have a new recipe sampling event or mini food show.• Let guests sample new items and vote on their favorites
• Serve small bite-size portions
• Schedule the sampling during your guests’ hungriest time of day. Food tastes better when you’re hungry.
HELP YOUR RESIDENTS TRY NEW FOODS
• If you create your own menus, pair new recipes
with good ole’ favorites.
• This helps reassure that if your guest doesn’t like
one item, the whole meal isn’t a bust.
• Be able to describe new recipes/products
HELP YOUR RESIDENTS TRY NEW FOODS
• Post pictures of new menu items on bulletin boards,
in resident newsletters or on television monitors.
Turkey
Primavera
THEME MEAL EVENTS
Mad Hatter Tea Party
WHAT TO DO WITH CURRENT MENU?
• What can be done to market and improve satisfaction with service, plate presentation, marketing?
• Ready for a change? Consider ways to “spice up the old” • New breads for sandwiches
• Dessert cart options
• Re-name or add descriptors
• Sandwich spreads
• Plating ideas
• Pretty vegetable blends
TAKE OLD FAVORITES UP A NOTCH
ACTION STATIONS
Taco bar
Salad bar
Yogurt parfait
Build your sandwich
Gourmet grilled cheese
Waffle station
Omelet station
Pancake station
Pasta station
Macaroni & cheese bar
Typical Menu
Baked Fish
Mashed Potatoes
Broccoli
Bread & Butter
Apple Pie
Romance your Menu!
Enhanced Menu
Crispy Baked Tilapia
Creamy Mashed
Potatoes
Seasoned Broccoli
Fresh Baked Bread with
Butter
Dutch Apple Pie with
Whipped Topping
IT’S GREEK TO ME!
ITALIAN THEMEDPASTA LASAGNA
ROLL UP(53-3 oz)
ITEM
NUMBER: 983560
Riviera Vegetables
HAVE IT YOUR WAY….
SITE MENU
THE POSTED MENU…..
Implement
Choice
Offerings
DAILY SOUP OPTION
CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST
• Make continental breakfast available from 6:30 – 10
am, along with hot breakfast option. A relaxed
breakfast is becoming the industry standard.
GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE!
• Smile
• Call the customer by name
• Listen
• Have a sense of urgency
• Do what you say you will do
• Communicate if you cannot fulfill the request right
away
• Make the customer feel like the most important
person in the room
WHY CUSTOMER SERVICE TRAINING
• Same dining environment every day—3 times per day.
• This is what community will hear about first
• This is what prospective residents want to know—dining
experience and food quality.
SELLING THE MENU
• Train staff how to describe the taste and texture of
the new recipe
• Make sure servers taste the menu items
• Post pictures of new menu items
• Have serving staff circulate through the dining room
and offer second helpings.
• Celebrity chefs
• Chefware
LOOK THE PART
Have the cook wear a chef
jacket, and equip the
serving staff with crisp, clean
serving aprons and name
tags.
It gives a professional
appearance, and the
residents love knowing and
interacting with the people
who were responsible for
making their meals.
CHOICE IS BEST
• Choose what they eat
• Choose if they eat
• Choose how much they eat
• Choose where to eat