Luxury retirement living on the menu at Eastbank Court
WHILE one in 10 over 65s are said to be malnourished or at risk, older people who own an apartment at Eastbank Court, Worcester are enjoying a taste of the good life thanks to the on-site licensed restaurant.
Hearty home cooked meals are prepared each day by experienced chefs using fresh locally sourced ingredients.
The restaurant is popular with homeowners at the Aspen Retirement development as it means they don’t need to shop for supplies, prep their lunchtime meal or even do the washing up. Plus it reassures children and grandchildren that their relatives are getting at least one balanced meal a day.
Liz Herring, sales and marketing manager for Aspen, explained: “The British Association of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (Bapen) suggests that 1.3 million over 65s are malnourished or at risk and that at least 10% of those living in sheltered accommodation are at risk.
“In contrast, the restaurant at Eastbank Court is regularly used by around half of homeowners with others using it on an occasional basis. For some people health problems make cooking difficult, while others perhaps don’t want to bother preparing a meal for one.”
Chef Claire Ormerod has worked in catering since she was 14 and had a Saturday job in a café. She studied hotel and catering, then baking and confectionary, spending most of her career working in school catering but also working in nursing homes and staff canteens for retailers.
“This is the best job I’ve ever had. I love it,” Claire said. “I get on with everyone and they’re lovely people to work for. The management put together the menus to an extent, but the kitchen is very independent – there’s me and another chef and we work seven days between us.”
During the week there are two choices of main course and a selection of light bites. Homeowners are encouraged to pre-order but they will always try to accommodate unexpected guests.
There’s no set dessert during the week so Claire can be inventive if the mood takes her.
“It’s like Masterchef looking at what’s in the cupboards and working out what I can make.” Claire laughed.
“It allows me to be very creative and try out new recipes or make something simple. I know the things the homeowners like but I try to vary it and, because they like fruity dishes, quite often it could be a crumble or a mousse.”
Traditional dishes are popular and homeowners’ favourites include lamb hot pot, homemade fishcakes, toad in the hole and roast dinners.
“The food is all good quality. We use the local butcher who delivers once a week; the fish we serve on a Friday is fresh from the van and cooked within three hours and the veg is from a farm shop,” Claire explained.
“Nutrition is important and we only serve chips twice a week. Everything is homemade so we know what goes into it and 95% of food served is cooked from fresh.”
The restaurant has catered for tables of up to 14 guests celebrating a birthday and over the festive period a Christmas meal is served. The first year they served around 50 turkey dinners with all the trimmings and last Christmas was even more popular with 130 meals served over two days.
Added extras go down well with the homeowners too.
“I make cakes for afternoon tea on a Monday and biscuits for the Wednesday coffee mornings and will bake seasonal things too,” Claire added.
While the restaurant is a firm favourite, the apartments at Eastbank Court all have well equipped kitchens where homeowners can prepare their own meals and snacks.
They can also choose to access a menu of hotel style communal facilities including an activities room, library, landscaped gardens, airy conservatory-style lounge, plus treatment room used by a visiting chiropodist, therapeutic masseuse and reflexologist
Current availability at Eastbank Court includes generously proportioned one-bedroom apartments priced from £184,950.
For more information call 01905 455182 or visit www.aspenretirement.co.uk/development/eastbank-court.
