When Justin Johnsonsigned on as the new executive chef of Harwood Place Retirement Community inWauwatosa two years ago, the senior living community’s dining program was, asJohnson describes it, “institutional in every imaginable way.” Residents wouldeat all three of their daily mealsmany of which were made with processed foodsof the just-add-water varietyin an uninspired cafeteria-like dining room.
“There’s this mentalityyou see sometimes in retirement living, particularly among the kitchen staff,where they think the seniors don’t know the difference between good and badfood, or that they’ll complain whether it’s good or not,” Johnson explains.“And I knew that couldn’t be true.”
With the full support ofVice President Allison Katula, Johnson, a graduate of the Cooking andHospitality Institute of Chicago–Le Cordon Bleu, invested a considerable amountof money and time reversing Harwood’s dining program from an institutionalprogram of easy-to-prepare and cheap-to-produce meals into a full-service, finedining establishment.
“One of the first thingsI said to the staff when I started,” Johnson says, “was to forget about[residents’] age and run this like a restaurant… to pretend that everybody iscoming here.”
The new chef quicklyassessed that the kitchen was grossly understaffed. Frozen bread andpre-assembled meals don’t require a lot of hands, but that’s not the case forthe fresh, seasonal produce and local meats Johnson was committed to serving.So he hired more chefs to prepare and cook the meals. He found that the serverswere not only taking orders and delivering food to the tables, but were washingdishes as well. So Johnson separated the front-of-house from the back-of-house,and hired dishwashers, servers and a dining room manager.
Harwood Placecommissioned Plunkett Raysich Architects to transform the lackluster dininghall into two light-filled dining areas: The Terrace, decorated with alandscape mural and quaint pergola, serves dinner, while The Arches has thecasual feel of a coffee shop for breakfast and lunch.
Johnson created adiverse, creative seasonal menu that follows a four-week rotation and featurestwo entrees for both lunch and dinner. The culinary style is a cross betweenNew American and traditional French. Harwood Place residents visit The Archesfor a standing menu of breakfast items like omelets and waffles, as well as asoup of the day and lunch standards such as burgers and sandwiches. The menu isdivided by a “Sandwich Special” that features unique creations like the mojitochicken and pineapple sandwich or an authentic Greek gyro, and the “Chef’sFeature,” which includes dishes such as Swedish meatballs over noodles orshrimp with Asian barbecue over romaine lettuce.
Every evening, HarwoodPlace residents choose from either the “Dining Room Special,” which is athrowback to a classic dish such as grilled apple pork chop with creamy polentaand French beans or chicken parmesan over linguine, or the “Chef’s Feature,”which is usually something more contemporary like seared salmon Provencal withlemon herb risotto and baby bok choy or grilled jumbo prawns with cannellinibean ragout and sautéed watercress. Johnson hired a sous chef with a talent forbaking and pastry, so seniors can rely on a fresh-baked sweet treat to closethe meal.
Whether it’s breakfast,lunch or dinner, the 200 Harwood Place residents who eat at The Terrace or TheArches can depend on a wholesome, balanced meal made from scratch with fresh ingredients.n
