Food at Woodhorn Park Care Home
We understand that food is vital to the health and well-being of those we support. Our trained chefs are passionate about creating food that is delicious, nutritious, nourishes the body and soul, and tailored to personal tastes.
Woodhorn Park have a carefully balanced choice of menu, tailored after discussion between our chefs, residents, their families and the responsible key worker further supports our residents well-being. We allow residents to eat in a relaxed dining environment with adapted crockery and tableware, and we offer plate presentation to allow a visible choice of meals. For residents who have difficulties in eating and swallowing we modify the menu of the day so that it meets there dietary needs. We have developed our chefs through the Barchester chef academy, which offers on-going training and development to our chefs and kitchen staff which trains them specifically to enhance the clients meal time experience. For a taste of what we can offer, see the example menus below.
Bob Clark
Hello, my name is Bob, and I am the Head Chef here at Woodhorn Park. I have worked at Woodhorn Park for 19 years previously as Head of Maintenance before changing in 2025 to Head Chef.
I have got a number of years’ experience in catering following many years in the Royal Regiment of Fusilier’s. I pride myself on preparing high quality food, and seeing our residents enjoy the dishes that the team and myself create makes me very happy.
Our hospitality team are committed to providing seasonal home cooked menus offering choice, nutrition and quality - including exciting menus to specific individual dietary needs and all appetites. The food we produce is hugely important to our residents which is why it is absolutely imperative that we always get their feedback and continuously meet the needs and nutritional quota of every single resident who chooses to make their home.
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'.
