PORT TOWNSEND — When it reopens early next year, the renovated kitchen at Jefferson Healthcare will support the mission of Arran Stark, executive chef.
The cafeteria will continue to be a dining destination — not just for hospital staff and patients, but for the general public as well, he said.
Stark — who began his career preparing gourmet food for high end clientele at prestigious institutions across the country — has said the renovated kitchen will aid him in preparing fresh, healthy and delicious fare.
After a six-month delay, the hospital kitchen is likely to reopen in mid-February.
“We moved out June 13 . . . with the objective of moving back into the kitchen Aug. 28,” Stark said.
“Due to an unforeseen build of the west wall of the kitchen, it kind of put the project back. More than likely, we will be back in operation in middle February.”
Construction crews have demolished and are rebuilding about one quarter of the kitchen area, Stark said.
Once completed, the new kitchen will incorporate energy-efficient appliances, new and larger refrigeration units, an updated cooking area, fresh paint and resealed floors, Stark said.
“I think it is going to be amazing when we get back into the swing of things,” Stark said.
“We want to take it to the next level.”
If he can use the “hospital as a platform to just feed people, that is good enough for me,” he said.
Healthy, gourmet dishes for all
To cook wholesome and tasty food in the new kitchen, and provide it in a friendly non-institutional setting for everyone, “is a no-brainer,” Stark said.
Stark has been focused on replacing processed food with meals cooked from scratch since he took over as executive chef about four years ago, he said.
“The first thing that we did was we retooled the cooking line,” he said.
“We actually got stoves and ovens . . . going in the kitchen, where before it was two electric burners, an oven and a flat top.”
Since Stark took over the reigns of the kitchen, “we have been cooking, in earnest, wholesome food,” he said.
The new kitchen will take it up a notch, he said, and will allow the kitchen staff to “do all sorts of stuff” not easily done before.
Changing perception
Stark has said his aim is to overcome the stigma of bad hospital food, and by doing so providing a better experience for patients.
There are three key components to offering a comfortable hospital stay, he said.
“One, is you get out alive. Number two, people were nice to you. And number three, the food was OK,” he said.
“That right there is the whole trinity of a good hospital stay.”
If the food “was really good, then that is a good thing. That is a pleasure point in a hospital stay,” he said.
The quality of hospital food began declining about 70 years ago, he said.
“Back in the 1940s, when Swanson Company put out the first TV dinner, I truly believe they did it with the best intention of giving moms during that time the night off,” he said.
“Well then, all of a sudden mom wants two nights off. Then three nights off. So, we get into this processed food thing that kind of stretches over into the institutional cooking world.”
As such, the hospital kitchen — when it was built in the mid-20th century — was designed to reheat processed food stuffs instead of cooking it fresh, he said.
The renovations will further reverse that trend, he said.
Hospital construction
The kitchen renovation is part of a larger $20 million construction project at Jefferson Healthcare at 834 Sheridan St.
The overall project is expected to be completed late next summer, and will result in a new emergency and special services building, which is expected to open later in the year.
Currently, Stark is able to provide fresh food in a limited format.
While the kitchen remains closed for expansion and renovations, the hospital’s cafe — offering a limited “grab-and-go” menu — is still open and includes a seating area.
Stark and his staff of about 15 employees currently prepare and cook meals each day at Port Townsend High School and then package and transport them to hospital patients and staff.
That includes breakfast, lunch and dinner items despite limited preparation options, he said.
“We only have two ovens and a kettle,” he said. “We cannot wait to get pots and pans rolling in the hospital kitchen again.”
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.