Seafood Basics

Seafood becomes more popular with our residents every day and is an important part of offering a menu with plenty of variety. It also presents some special challenges. It’s perishable, delicate, expensive and can be tricky to cook. Taking all of this into...

The Case for Doing Monthly Inventories

Monthly inventories are absolutely the norm in any free-standing or hotel restaurant, whether big or small, corporate or mom & pop, yet many senior living communities do not make use of this simple tool to help control food costs. In this article Joe Abuso discusses the how any why of using inventories to control food costs, reduce labor costs and improve customer satisfaction.

Frying and Braising Basics

There are many skillsets that any good chef has, and that any aspiring chef must master. These include knife skills, good sanitation practices, building flavors, menu and recipe development, labor and food cost control, management skills and the application of heat....

Made-from-Scratch Foods

Not many people would argue with the idea that the foods we eat effect our health. Where the differences of opinion come in is about which foods are good, which are bad, and which are just plain ugly. It doesn’t help that the experts seem to alter their opinions...

Developing your Kitchen Staff

Keeping our kitchens well-staffed is one of our biggest challenges. While steady work and early evenings – relative to a typical restaurant or hotel – are practical advantages to working in a senior-living kitchen, it’s often not enough to lure the best workers to our...