Operator profile: Loveday & Co

My first impression after walking into Loveday & Co’s Kensington home is that it all feels really rather fancy. On the corner of a leafy, suburban square, it seems a world away from the bustle of Kensington High Street down the road and more like I’m heading to a spa for the day.

After signing in at reception, a café bar stocked with coffee machines, soft drinks and sweet treats makes the first impression, before we move into the home’s restaurant, overlooked by its open kitchen (every home has one, I’m told, so the smells of freshly-baked bread and herbs trigger hunger), where chefs are getting ready for the lunch service.

Loveday & Co sits comfortably in the luxury care market – it describes its dementia and senior care as high-end, with its chefs, who often have five-star hospitality backgrounds, serving meals that wouldn’t look out of place in the capital’s fine dining restaurants. There are no residents to be found across Loveday’s four homes (including one due to open in the coming months). Instead, there are members, as well as those who come to the homes for respite care (perhaps post-surgery or for rehabilitation) and day care guests.

All, group executive chef Matthew Dodge says, receive the same treatment. “Eating here should be an experience,” he explains. “That’s how we design the menus. It’s not a quick in and out – it should be like eating at a restaurant.”

The private dining room at Loveday Kensington

The personal touch

It was witnessing his grandfather’s experience in care that inspired Dodge to leave a career in hospitality, including at the famous Savoy Hotel. “My grandad had dementia and was in a care home,” he explains. “He had dysphagia but they hadn’t realised, so he was eating things he shouldn’t be. I used to make him food and take it in, and I started to look into care catering. I realised I could serve restaurant-quality, five star-quality food.”

That journey began at Signature, before he joined Loveday & Co six years ago, starting outat the gr oup when it had just one home, in Chelsea Court Place. In March this year, Kensington opened and its Notting Hill site is expected to be up and running in the next few months (where Adriano Carvalho, one of our Care Home Catering Awards 2022 winners, is head chef).

Most recently, though, was the opening of Abbey Road, a 26-suite home boasting what it describes as a world-class sensory garden, where plants have been picked not only for their aesthetics, but also for their scent, touch, taste and even sound, and from which fresh herbs will be picked to use in its menus. It aims to mirror the standards at other homes – Kensington also has a rooftop sensory garden, while all Loveday homes have café areas with bean to cup machines and private dining rooms.

Loveday Kensington's café area

“Family and friends can book [the private dining rooms] for birthday parties and occasions and we can create personalised menus,” Dodge says. “It’s important for people to have a space where they can be private.”

In a sector often working within tight budgets and facing tough recruitment issues, Loveday & Co staff are empowered to provide the personal touch, whatever the cost. Staff often eat their meals with members, while at one home a member with a family chicken soup recipe is helped to buy chicken legs from the shop and cook them. Another who stayed at a home for respite care was able to choose and order his meals via a WhatsApp group with the chefs.

Menus, too, vary from home to home. “The head chefs will meet to discuss what’s working,” Dodge says. “Everywhere is different – there’s no point me putting on what’s worked at Chelsea elsewhere, as we want it to be bespoke. We will sit down and discuss the menus, and formulate three-week menus that rotate for three months. We keep it as seasonal as possible and it’s resident-focused – if it doesn’t work we will change it.

“There are no set meal times – if someone doesn’t normally take their breakfast until 10am, just because they live here doesn’t mean they should have to have it earlier. We have chefs here all day and we don’t only do food from 12pm to 2pm – we make sure we are offering it all day.”

Chocolates being made by the Loveday & Co chefs

If the goal is to truly make members feel like they are at home, getting to know them is essential. Dodge says before members join, they and loved ones are asked about likes, dislikes and intolerances. “It is so detailed,” he adds. “We’ll ask what their favourite meal is and what they ate on their wedding day, for example, so we know what could get their appetite up.”

Once they have moved in, chefs, too, will get to know members and learn more about their lives, using that information to inform menus. If a member lived in Indonesia, for example, the catering team will explore adding Indonesian dishes to the mix.

The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes

Dementia care is certainly an area Dodge had experienced before joining Loveday & Co, where all staff are trained in dementia care. In 2018, he was part of the Channel 4 documentary The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes, which saw 14 volunteers all living with some form of dementia staff a restaurant. Aiming to help those taking part rediscover a sense of purpose and to encourage viewers to reassess their assumptions of the disease, Dodge says it was eye-opening and hugely rewarding to be a part of, and has no doubt informed his approach to care catering.

A lighter lifestyle

Hearty meals, including butter-rich mains and creamy desserts, certainly have a place on care home menus – after all, fortifying dishes to meet nutritional and calorific intake is key. But you’ll know well that smaller, lighter options are also popular among older people, a demand that inspired Loveday & Co to create Wellbeing Plus, a lighter menu choice focused on health. “We designed a big bank of dishes that were approved by a private nutritionist,” Dodge says. “I used to send her ideas and she’d come back and say ‘why don’t you take that out’ or ‘add this in because it has a good amount of vitamins’.

Loveday & Co chefs balance indulgent treats with lighter options

"Balance is a big part of our menu. We always make sure there’s a light option. Yes, we do offer food that has carbs and fat and is delicious and full of nice things, but we have also tried to balance that with options that are healthy and delicious.”

Quality food doesn’t just run through Loveday’s menus – from Chinese new year to Burns night and a recent authentic Indian banquet night, it’s a core part of its activities. Every week, there are classes for residents and relatives (as well as staff) to take part in, such as sushi and bread-making.

“It’s not so much about what they do, but it’s about getting their hands dirty, that’s the most important thing – and then of course the eating it after, it’s rewarding,” he adds.

Ultimately, he says, there are two goals: Keep members healthy and happy, and show what is possible in care catering. An Instagram feed set up by Dodge (@lovedayfood) showcases chefs’ dishes. “There is a big stigma around care catering,” Dodge says. “People have an idea of it – I had that idea when I used to visit my grandad. But when you walk into somewhere like here it’s not the idea that people have – hopefully we can change it.”

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