Food at West Abbey Care Home
All our food is cooked from fresh ingredients in the home by our highly experienced team. We offer choice which is embodied in our daily menus on display across the home. Our Head Chef always finds out about specific likes and dislikes upon admission to ensure that we meet residents' assessed and specialist dietary needs. We also hold monthly 'food for thought meetings,' during which we provide residents with the opportunity to give feedback on the quality of our cuisine. We then review our menus as appropriate based on this feedback. Please see below for a sample of our menu:
Andrew Pippard
Hi my name is Andy, I have worked in catering for 15 years and have been here at West Abbey for over 10 years. I am a Level 3 Qualified Production Chef and take delight in cooking and providing good food for my residents, colleagues and family during my days off!
Dietary requirements
For residents who have difficulties swallowing, we modify the menu of the day so that the dishes are more palatable for them. To support our chefs in producing these dishes, our hospitality team and our Chef Academy organise theory and practical workshops. The chefs work with the chef trainer to prepare tasty, modified meals safely and according to IDDSI frame work. This encourages residents to eat and enjoy their food. All our chefs have been trained in IDDSI food descriptors.
Attracting top chefs
Our chefs are recruited on the basis of an interview with the regional hospitality support team and the manager of the home. Selection also involves a practical element, where potential chefs are asked to cook for and meet a panel of people living in the home. Chefs take their job extremely seriously and the annual Barchester Chef Competition sees our chefs battle it out in regional heats and then at a national final for the accolade of 'Barchester's Chef of the Year'.
