Tuck into retirement
Forget pie and mash — villages are now serving Michelin-style meals to their residents
LONG gone are the days when retirement home restaurants would serve up nothing more than jacket potatoes and soup. Menus are now exciting and varied; you can expect globe artichoke a la Grecque followed by grilled Var salmon with Keta caviar, Liliput capers and sea herbs plus a vegetarian and even vegan dish alongside sausages and mash.
Chefs have been trained at top hotels and are devising healthy nutritional dishes from locally sourced ingredients.
Research from Audley Villages (audley villages.co.uk) conducted earlier this year, revealed that 69 per cent of over 55s now think differently about their health and fitness, taking up more exercise and keeping a closer eye on their diet.
Since the pandemic some 30 per cent have started to eat more healthily, while 23 per cent have reduced their alcohol intake.
Innovation is today’s key ingredient, with many restaurants now open to the public. The Greenhouse at Wadswick Green in Wiltshire, has been a favourite with locals ever since it opened in 2015. In September, it reopened under a new chef Adrian Warren, who used to work for Marco Pierre White.
Aiden has created a mouthwatering menu to suit all palates such as a starter of pan-fried bacon and caramelised onion puree, a vegetarian main of walnut steamed pudding with creamy spring green cabbage and dessert of apple and cardamon tarte tatin with vanilla seed ice cream.
During the lockdowns, the head chef at Enterprise Retirement Living’s The Red House village in Ripon (erl.uk.com) created recipe cards which were sent to prospective purchasers so they could try them at home.
McCarthy Stone (mccarthyandstone.co.uk) now offers dining at 104 of its assisted living schemes and has recently hired professional outside caterers to provide flexible dining and a bar menu at its new development Augustus House in Surrey and Neptune House in Worthing.
Ladies Who Lunch clubs are flourishing, too. Once a month about 50 ladies dine at Inspired Villages’ Durrants Village restaurant in West Sussex.
‘There had been a couple of disastrous lunches at a restaurant,’ says resident and club member Lindsay Hiley-Jones. ‘Everyone feels our restaurant is as good as a Michelin star — we can also use the bar and don’t have to drive home afterwards.’
Inspired’s Chester village, Gifford Lea, has even received rave reviews for its restaurant on TripAdvisor.
‘Our restaurants are hugely beneficial for the wellbeing of our customers,’ says Fiona Carleto, services managing director at McCarthy Stone. The Bistro at McCarthy Stone’s Deans Court in Staffordshire is a real social hub according to June Grice, 84, who moved to a two-bedroom apartment last year with her husband Roy, 85, after living in Spain for 29 years.
‘Last week, we went down and sat in the garden and suddenly there were 12 of us enjoying lunch together,’ she said. ‘It is also cheaper than eating out. You can have a jacket potato and omelette and salad every day, but there are also curries, Italian dishes, soups, a vegetarian dish and every weekend there is a roast,’ she adds.
‘The bill for me, a friend and my husband came to just £8. Why would you go into town — coffee here costs just 65p, too.’
Retirement restaurants also provide jobs.
‘They boost the local economy by hiring chefs and staff and where possible source ingredients from nearby farmers,’ explains Paul Morgan, managing director of the Audley Group.
Audley’s newest restaurant, No 3, Nightingale Place in South London, has become a hotspot for locals as well as residents.