Operator profile: Cinnamon Care Collection

While it’s crucial to get your catering building blocks right, it’s often the extra details which make a lasting impression. Finishing touches have the power to separate a good experience from a truly memorable one.

Richard Pearshouse, executive chef at Cinnamon Care Collection, knows that well. Since he first set out in care catering 17 years ago, he has been keen to bring fine dining to residents and, having started his current role last June, is now doing so across Cinnamon’s 21 sites. He works with chefs at its homes and retirement villages, tweaking menus and sharing his expertise from years spent in the sector, as well as in hotels, restaurants and contract catering.

“I had the perception that everyone else had when I started out,” he says. “I was only 23 when I started cooking in the home where I started and I thought ‘I could really make a difference here’. I really pushed myself to create better food for the residents and for the elderly generation.”

Pearshouse oversees the provider’s approach to food and drink, which he says, in a nutshell, is to provide high quality food, which is seasonal, nutritional and, most importantly, what the residents want. While Pearshouse has input on the menus, they are designed first and foremost by chefs on the ground, taking input from residents.

“I’m not there to say ‘look at what I’m doing’,” he says. “I’m working with them and the menus they have already designed, adding extras and introducing new ideas. My goal is to help them, while giving them advice.”

Food cooked by chefs at the Cinnamon Care Collection
 

“All of our menus are created in the homes. The chefs have autonomy, and I’ll then make sure it’s seasonal and what residents want, going through our food forum minutes. Ultimately, it’s all down to the residents – if they have their own recipes they’d like us to include, we’ll put it on the menu with their name underneath, if they’re happy for us to.”

It’s clear he is keen on paying attention to detail, listing examples of where that has been achieved. The coffee blend used in its bean to cup machines has been designed specifically for Cinnamon, created by getting residents and staff involved, he says. All homes make home-made bread to trigger welcome memories (especially for residents living with dementia) and hunger, while its dementia crockery is made specially, designed in particularly vibrant colours. Elsewhere, ceramic heating elements and cast iron containers create a more homely feel and Cinnamon has created its own hydration sweets using seaweed agar. “It’s just about providing those small touches,” Pearshouse adds.

He says the team is keen to ensure meals remain light, while meeting residents’ nutritional needs. They have focused on ways of fortifying dishes without adding extra heaviness through cheese and cream, for example. “Some options can be quite heavy,” he says, “so we use herb oils such as rosemary oil, which when used on a salad is not necessarily noticeable. We enhance the food rather than adding something heavy – using avocado in a salad, for example, can add a lot of extra calories.”

For smoothies, too, they often choose to focus on lighter options. “Some providers put ice cream in smoothies and we can do that, but our residents also wanted more healthy and vegan options – we use blueberries and spinach, for example, and the nutritional benefits are huge.”

While fish and chips Friday is of course a menu staple, the team also poaches fish as an extra, healthier choice. He adds: “In the homes we cook our own chips and make our own tartare sauce – we make everything we can in-house.”

Chefs walk the familiar line of cooking innovative, new dishes with familiar options that residents love. “We do experiment, and introducing those dishes with another option which is popular is helpful,” Pearshouse explains. “Fish and chips Friday, for example, is a good chance to do that. If you are trying a dish where you think ‘I’m not sure how this will be received’, trying it on a day where you know there is a popular option is a good choice.”

Dishes residents enjoy at the Cinnamon Care Collection

The mix of geographic differences and changing perceptions of care catering are creating a natural demand for more varied dishes, he says. “We are seeing a lot more diversity in homes and we are adapting to residents’ needs,” he says. “We have a few homes where Caribbean food is really popular. Our homes are spread out around the country so it varies - around London for example we have a lot more demand for vegetarian and vegan meals.”

Reflecting that change, Cinnamon recently signed up to Vegetarian for Life’s Memory Care Pledge (read more about vegan and vegetarian catering on page 21), which asks care caterers to ensure they are doing enough to ensure residents who previously lived a meat-free lifestyle, but who may now have cognitive or memory difficulties, can continue doing so.

Pearshouse has long been a champion of changes in care catering – he promotes good practice on social media (via his own Instagram at @pearinakitchen and also through @5starcarehomefood) and would be keen to see a scheme which recognises standards introduced. “There are AA Rosettes and Michelin stars, and those schemes have become massive – if we had something similar for care homes, it would be great,” he explains.

"I just try and showcase what care catering can be, to say ‘look how different this is’. It used to be the case that residents didn’t always want to go into a care home, but it’s completely different now. We have younger generations going into care homes and into our villages, where people can be 60 years old. More people are now choosing to come into care as a nice place to go.”

Recruitment is, of course, proving difficult, as it is industry wide, but Pearshouse says his number one criterion is passion. “It is so important to get the work ethic and passion,” he says. “You can be the best chef, but it’s no good if you have lost your passion.”

One of the dining areas 

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