Northwell Health held its 12th annual Chef’s Challenge competition this year, with cooks presenting their dishes to special guest judge Chef David Burke. The world-renowned restauranteur and cookbook author, who has displayed his skills on Bravo TV and the Food Network, joined Northwell’s judge’s table.
Each year chef teams from different hospitals within Northwell bring their knife skills and kitchen expertise to the heated cook-off that takes place at Glen Cove Hospital. This year’s competing finalist teams were from Northern Westchester Hospital in Mt. Kisco, Huntington Hospital, South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore and Staten Island University Hospital, Prince’s Bay.
Chef Burke judged alongside Northwell leaders Chef Bruno Tison, vice president systems food services and corporate executive chef; Jaqueline Moline, MD, senior vice president and chair of occupational medicine, epidemiology and prevention; and Francine Kelly, DNP, associate executive director, Glen Cove Hospital.
“I’m blown away by this event, because I think it’s very smart to have a competition like this where food is taken so seriously in healthcare and hospitals,” said Chef Burke. “Food is so important because it brings joy to people who may be in fear when they’re in the hospital. The word hospitality and hospital are one in the same so if we can up the experience of being in the hospital through food and nutrition, it really makes a whole lot of sense.”
Northwell Health President and CEO Michael Dowling was also at the event and spoke about the importance of food excellence across the healthcare system.
“It’s important to realize that food is health so we’ve made a concerted effort and successfully enhanced the food quality for all patients who come into our facilities,” said Mr. Dowling. “What you have today is a competition that demonstrates the extraordinary talent that our chefs have and the level of food that is delivered to our patients every day. This competition elevates everybody’s competence and desire and it also inspires everyone.”
Each hospital team created food that was delicious and met dietary and nutrition guidelines. They had 90 minutes to prepare three courses each and present them to the judges. This year the winning team was awarded an all-expenses paid trip to Napa Valley including a visit to the Culinary Institute of America while there. Northern Westchester Hospital took home first place at the Chef’s Challenge. Their winning dishes were: Mushroom and farro risotto for appetizer, main entrée was filet of wild black cod and for dessert Bing cherry and almond clafouti, matcha and yogurt crème anglaise. Huntington Hospital placed second and Staten Island University Hospital, Prince’s Bay came in third.
“This annual event represents the culinary excellence our patients are experiencing across all our 21 hospitals,” said Sven Gierlinger, senior vice president and chief experience officer at Northwell Health. “Our patient scores for the quality of food in our hospitals keep going up because of events like this. Food in a hospital is part of healing and when patients are served food it should be a bright spot in their day.”
Over 10 million meals per year are prepared and served to patients and visitors throughout Northwell Health. All chefs have experience working in the hotel and hospitality industry, some in Michelin starred restaurants. Eight Northwell hospitals are ranked in the 90th percentile or above for food quality scores based on patient surveys. The system as a whole is in the 84th percentile compared to all other hospitals in the country.
“This annual event is a symbol of our commitment to redefining food and nutrition in health care,” said Mr. Tison. “It allows us to gather together and share new techniques and ideas, but most importantly this is where we showcase how we have transformed hospital food.”
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