- May
- 10
- 2018
Chefs are raising the bar on hospital food
There’s a new chef in town, and he’s the first and only Michelin Star chef hired by a health care organization in the United States. As Northwell Health continues refining how we source, cook and prepare the food we serve our team members, patients, visitors and community, Chef Bruno Tison, AVP of System Food Services and Corporate Chef within the Office of Patient & Customer Experience arrived to support the continued implementation of the 3-year , system-wide Food and Nutrition Transformation.
“This is the first time Northwell has hired and created a position such as this because there is a real need for it,” said Chef Bruno, who spent 14 years as the Executive Chef at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Chef Bruno regularly visits with kitchen staff at their individual facilities for training sessions. During one of his first stops, at LIJ Valley Stream Hospital, he prepared the quintessential comfort food for convalescing and cold weather – healthy chicken soup from scratch. His seasoned techniques included whole chickens and vegetables – and no dehydrated powders, which are commonly used in hospitals.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to work with such an amazing chef like Bruno,” said LIJ Valley Stream Executive Chef Patty Sobol. “He’s got a wealth of knowledge and we’re already seeing the impact of his influence to help us make our food even better.”
As part of Northwell’s Food and Nutrition Wellness transformation, kitchen staff across the system are refining their skills to create food that supports healing and well-being by using less salt and sugar while avoiding saturated fat. To improve the nutritional value of the foods we serve, Northwell has also minimized the use of frozen and canned goods, serving foods with minimal processing and opting for baked instead of fried foods. Northwell’s Healthy Choice nutrition criteria were implemented last year to provide heart-healthy guidelines for hot meals, cold grab-n-go meals as well as snacks.
“I’m currently working with the our culinary departments to re-teach and re-train so we provide not only our patients, but also our employees, with fresh, whole foods,” Chef Bruno said. “We want to keep patients and employees healthy and we want our patients to look forward to a great meal.”
Under his leadership, Chef Bruno’s team at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa in California has received Michelin Star recognition for three consecutive years. His role at Northwell Health includes system-wide oversight of food quality, culinary training, menu and recipe development.
*This blog post is adapted from the press release announcing Chef Bruno’s arrival at Northwell Health, December 20, 2017.
Such great stuff happening here – and first!
It’s true, Sally Ann. There are so many crowning accomplishments in the works here at Northwell!