Food at Melbourn Springs Care Home
Our menus are composed of only the best fresh produce and cooked to the highest quality, with aims for the natural aroma and taste to be retained as best as possible. A great deal of care is taken to accommodate all dietary requirements, and our meals are always prepared with the likes and dislikes of residents taken into consideration. We can guarantee that there is something for everyone on our menu, which you can view below:
Phil Bennett
Hello, my name is Phil and I am the Head Chef here at Melbourn Springs. I pride myself on preparing high quality food and seeing our residents enjoy the dishes that the team and myself create makes me very happy.
Prior to joining Barchester in 2021 I was Head Chef at a luxury Golf Club complex running a team where we would often be catering for parties, conferences and weddings too!
Our Hospitality team here at Melbourn Springs is committed to providing seasonal home cooked menus offering choice, nutrition and quality - including exciting menus to specific individual dietary needs and all appetites. The food we produce is hugely important to our residents which is why it is absolutely imperative that we always get their feedback and continuously meet the needs and nutritional quota of every single resident who chooses to make Melbourn Springs their home.
Dietary requirements
For residents who have difficulties swallowing, we modify the menu of the day so that the dishes are more palatable for them. To support our chefs in producing these dishes, our hospitality team and our Chef Academy organise theory and practical workshops. The chefs work with the chef trainer to prepare tasty, modified meals safely and according to IDDSI frame work. This encourages residents to eat and enjoy their food. All our chefs have been trained in IDDSI food descriptors.
Attracting top chefs
Our chefs are recruited on the basis of an interview with the regional hospitality support team and the manager of the home. Selection also involves a practical element, where potential chefs are asked to cook for and meet a panel of people living in the home. Chefs take their job extremely seriously and the annual Barchester Chef Competition sees our chefs battle it out in regional heats and then at a national final for the accolade of 'Barchester's Chef of the Year'.
