Date: 9 June 2016

At Whiddon, we recognise that positive and enjoyable dining experiences in aged care are essential for our residents’ fulfilment, wellbeing and general nutrition.

We pride ourselves on providing nutritious and delicious seasonal menus, prepared using fresh, local produce and providing choice at each meal time to suit individual tastes and dietary requirements.

Our Food and Beverage Manager and qualified chef, Maryanne Kerin, goes above and beyond to guarantee that our seasonal menus incorporate our residents’ input and ideas, ensuring a high level of resident satisfaction.

“Food plays a very significant role in our lives; it provides many social and emotional connections, making it important to everyone.”

“It is a daily pleasure and comfort which brings about so much enjoyment, and also improves our residents’ health and wellbeing through proper nutrition.” she said.

Maryanne addresses dietary needs in a flexible and tailored way, with menus custom-made to meet a diverse range of cultural and dietary requirements. Some of these include vegetarian, vegan, Halal, gluten-free, salt-free, diabetic and texture-modified foods.

Our broad, person-centred approach to dining ensures that residents are given the opportunity to provide feedback on our menus and have a say about their dining experience. Our dining tables are properly set for each main meal with fresh flowers on display, and fine teas and high quality plunger coffee within easy reach.

The team at Whiddon are currently going over the final touches on their winter menu, which is set to include family favourites such as pea and ham soup, vegetable mornay, lasagne, a classic roast and delicious chocolate pudding and trifle for dessert!

Not only do we pride ourselves on our great food and quality catering service, we also exclusively run a Creative Ageing program called VintageBites. The program includes activities around cooking and sharing family or traditional recipes, learning and teaching food crafts such as jam making and baking, visits by nutritionists, a travelling culinary roadshow, and a digital element to the program where seniors share their crafts and recipes both with other participants and online on YouTube.

To commemorate Anzac Day, our Narrabri home recently hosted a VintageBites bake-off which saw five teams battle it out in a MasterChef-style setting, preparing Anzac biscuits using a mix of traditional, modern, secret and family recipes. The cooking demonstrated encouraged participation by our residents and community care clients, who prepared the recipes, sampled the home cooked treats and voted for their favourite recipe. Watch the video here.

 

Whiddon has taken out numerous accolades at the OSCAR Aged Care Hospitality Awards for the quality of our catering services, including;

  • NSW Facility Catering Service of the Year – The Whiddon Group Easton Park, 2015
  • NSW Cook of the Year – The Whiddon Group Bourke, 2015
  • National Cook of the year – The Whiddon Group Grafton, 2015
  • National Facility Catering Service of the Year – The Whiddon Group Narrabri, 2014
  • National Cook of the Year – The Whiddon Group Walgett, 2014
  • NSW Cook of the Year – The Whiddon Group Largs, 2014
  • NSW Facility Catering Service of the Year – The Whiddon Group Kyogle, 2014
  • NSW Catering Innovation of the Year – The Whiddon Group Redhead, 2013
  • NSW Chef Manager of the Year –The Whiddon Group Easton Park, 2013

 

Read about Whiddon’s award-winning food in the news:

To find out more about the Whiddon culinary experience, please contact us on 1300 738 388.