Benchmark’s Chefs Bring Fine Dining and Gourmet Flair

The chefs at Benchmark Senior Living served lobster, tenderloin and oysters during one recent amazing meal, showing just how much the dining experience has changed for those who live and work in today’s senior living communities.

The occasion was a monthly meeting of a local wine dinner group that took place at The Commons in Lincoln, a Benchmark Signature Living community, in Lincoln, MA. The menu included sweet butter poached lobster, marbled potatoes, and crispy prosciutto. There was also a selection of cheeses, charcuterie and pate, calamari, oysters, seared Muscovy duck breast clementine, and tenderloin and foie gras brochettes.

It had all been prepared in The Commons in Lincoln kitchen, under the supervision of Chef Guy Hemond. “If you want to eat fresh, local and cooked from scratch, you should join us as a resident and enjoy a great meal any night of the week,” said Guy, who is also Vice President of Culinary and Dining Experience for Benchmark Senior Living. The dishes prepared by Benchmark’s chefs on this night were for a special occasion, but as Guy points out, “every day of the week our chefs create amazing dishes for our residents who tell us it’s just like a fine restaurant.”

The chefs at the recent wine club event usually spend their time at other communities in the Benchmark family. They include Chef Jason King from The Commons in Lincoln; Chef Todd McGovern from Bedford Falls, Bedford, NH; Chef Uwe Werner from the Falls at Cordingly Dam, Newton, MA; Chef Asim Akhtar from The Commons in Lincoln; Chef Russ Camolli from Benchmark Senior Living at Split Rock, Shelton, CT; Chef Jim Hourihan, Regional Director of Dining Experience at Benchmark Senior Living and Chef Michael Eckrote, Regional Director of Dining Experience at Benchmark Senior Living. Host for the evening was Chris Golen, Campus Director at the Commons in Lincoln.

Benchmark Senior Living serves the whole spectrum of communities for older adults: both independent and assisted living, as well as memory care and skilled nursing. So its chefs come up with recipes to make sure that each resident enjoys a dining experience that both delights and provides the proper nutrition. And that means Benchmark’s chefs need to be able to scale up to produce four star dishes and serve seasonal favorites in new ways.

“When a chef can make you taste an everyday food in an entirely new way, you know you have a great chef,” says Guy. “When they can create dishes worthy of a four-star restaurant, there’s nothing better.”