Culinary
Our recipe calls for a healthier tomorrow
We believe innovation is the key ingredient in promoting wellness and is essential to transforming the healthcare culinary experience for our patients and our team members. From the way we prepare our foods to the way we prepare our team members for a successful career, including tuition reimbursement, our appetite for care grows stronger with each serving as we redefine “hospital food” and what it means to set the table for better health in the future.
Food for thought
When you become part of our culinary services, you’ll discover professional and personal advantages you simply won’t find anywhere else.
Join New York State’s largest private employer
Learn from Michelin Star award-winning chefs
Use food to enhance the healing process
Experience excellent work-life balance and growth potential
Enjoy competitive compensation and outstanding benefits
Redefining culinary excellence
Throughout our entire health system, we’re committed to advancing every aspect of food preparation and delivery. Take a look at some of the many ingredients that go into this integrated approach.
Food Sourcing
To bring the highest quality, most nutritious food to our patients and staff, we make sure we begin with only the finest ingredients. This includes:
- Fresh, never frozen, hormone- and antibiotic-free chicken raised on completely vegetarian diet
- Fresh, never frozen, hormone & antibiotic free ground beef and burgers
- Fresh, never frozen, sustainably and regionally harvested, long-line caught fish, and organic salmon
- Hormone free, locally-raised milk
- Only pasteurized shell and liquid eggs
- Artisanal breads with no preservatives and low in sodium from some of the best local New York bakeries, as well healthy bagels from New Yorkers Bagels, some of the best bagels New York has to offer
- Fresh brewed coffee, including Rainforest Alliance Certified beans
- Artisanal, plant-based (vegan) and heart-healthy desserts that meet our heart-healthy Northwell Healthy Choice nutrition criteria
- Fresh baked muffins that meet our heart-healthy Northwell Healthy Choice nutrition criteria
Teaching Kitchens
As part of our commitment to elevating health and wellness, we developed the concept of teaching kitchens. Last year alone, we introduced over 153 teaching kitchens. These kitchens represent a partnership between our chefs and registered dietitians to share Northwell Healthy Choice recipes, basic culinary skills, and nutrition education with team members, patients and visitors. More than that, many of our teaching kitchens reach beyond the walls of our hospitals to form strong community partnerships with senior centers, schools, community centers, and more. Our teaching kitchens are also used internally to support team building opportunities.
Northwell Hospital Gardens
The delivery of exceptional food begins with our on-site hospital gardens. We currently maintain nine different gardens across Northwell Health, including an urban rooftop garden and LIJ Valley Stream’s hydroponic garden. Our gardens generate a harvest of hundreds of pounds of fresh herbs and vegetables each season. This produce is used for our patient and cafeteria menus as well as onsite farmer’s markets. The gardens are integrated with our teaching kitchens to deliver an innovative experiential immersion in farm-to-table cooking. Employee volunteers tend the gardens while patients are able to enjoy the serenity afforded by our garden. At Northern Westchester Hospital, our Kids Dig Dirt program even involves nursery and daycare children in planting and harvesting fresh vegetables.
Labor & Delivery/Maternity Culinary Initiative
Because we want babies and new parents to get off to a great start, we’re focused on enhancing the culinary experience for the special patients. We’ve introduced in-room dining and new upscale menus for patients and families at Lenox Hill Hospital, Northern Westchester Hospital and Phelps Hospital. This includes:
- Fresh bakes lactation cookies made in-house at Northern Westchester Hospital
- Candlelight dinner for new parents at Phelps Hospital
- VIP and Signatures Services at Lenox Hill Hospital
In Room Dining
We have expanded and enhanced our in-room dining experience with a hospitality-focused model that gives patients greater control over what they eat and when they eat it by offering in-room dining to patients. In addition, Lenox Hill Hospital’s Signature Services include an upscale menu, china, and linen table service.
Wellness
We have developed an innovative approach to the food we offer our 100,000+ team members in support of their health and well-being. In partnership with our registered dieticians and chefs, we have elevated our foods standards and refreshed our cafe offerings using our Northwell Healthy Choice heart-healthy nutrition criteria.
Knowing that small shifts in food mindset result in long term health benefits, we are removing fryers and freezers and replacing them with restaurant caliber, fresher foods. Offering employees an expanded selection of healthy offerings is just one of the reasons we’ve been recognized as a Best Place to Work in Health Care. Recent highlights include:
- Partnerships with three local farms (Natural Earth Organic, Sang Lee, Hudson Valley) to enable team members to participate in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.
- Northern Westchester Hospital opening a New Center for Healthy Living in 2019.
- Our registered dietitians providing wellness education for the community, employees and local/national publications.
Food Sourcing
To bring the highest quality, most nutritious food to our patients and staff, we make sure we begin with only the finest ingredients. This includes:
- Fresh, never frozen, hormone- and antibiotic-free chicken raised on completely vegetarian diet
- Fresh, never frozen, hormone & antibiotic free ground beef and burgers
- Fresh, never frozen, sustainably and regionally harvested, long-line caught fish, and organic salmon
- Hormone free, locally-raised milk
- Only pasteurized shell and liquid eggs
- Artisanal breads with no preservatives and low in sodium from some of the best local New York bakeries, as well healthy bagels from New Yorkers Bagels, some of the best bagels New York has to offer
- Fresh brewed coffee, including Rainforest Alliance Certified beans
- Artisanal, plant-based (vegan) and heart-healthy desserts that meet our heart-healthy Northwell Healthy Choice nutrition criteria
- Fresh baked muffins that meet our heart-healthy Northwell Healthy Choice nutrition criteria
Teaching Kitchens
As part of our commitment to elevating health and wellness, we developed the concept of teaching kitchens. Last year alone, we introduced over 153 teaching kitchens. These kitchens represent a partnership between our chefs and registered dietitians to share Northwell Healthy Choice recipes, basic culinary skills, and nutrition education with team members, patients and visitors. More than that, many of our teaching kitchens reach beyond the walls of our hospitals to form strong community partnerships with senior centers, schools, community centers, and more. Our teaching kitchens are also used internally to support team building opportunities.
Northwell Hospital Gardens
The delivery of exceptional food begins with our on-site hospital gardens. We currently maintain nine different gardens across Northwell Health, including an urban rooftop garden and LIJ Valley Stream’s hydroponic garden. Our gardens generate a harvest of hundreds of pounds of fresh herbs and vegetables each season. This produce is used for our patient and cafeteria menus as well as onsite farmer’s markets. The gardens are integrated with our teaching kitchens to deliver an innovative experiential immersion in farm-to-table cooking. Employee volunteers tend the gardens while patients are able to enjoy the serenity afforded by our garden. At Northern Westchester Hospital, our Kids Dig Dirt program even involves nursery and daycare children in planting and harvesting fresh vegetables.
Labor & Delivery/Maternity Culinary Initiative
Because we want babies and new parents to get off to a great start, we’re focused on enhancing the culinary experience for the special patients. We’ve introduced in-room dining and new upscale menus for patients and families at Lenox Hill Hospital, Northern Westchester Hospital and Phelps Hospital. This includes:
- Fresh bakes lactation cookies made in-house at Northern Westchester Hospital
- Candlelight dinner for new parents at Phelps Hospital
- VIP and Signatures Services at Lenox Hill Hospital
In Room Dining
We have expanded and enhanced our in-room dining experience with a hospitality-focused model that gives patients greater control over what they eat and when they eat it by offering in-room dining to patients. In addition, Lenox Hill Hospital’s Signature Services include an upscale menu, china, and linen table service.
Wellness
We have developed an innovative approach to the food we offer our 100,000+ team members in support of their health and well-being. In partnership with our registered dieticians and chefs, we have elevated our foods standards and refreshed our cafe offerings using our Northwell Healthy Choice heart-healthy nutrition criteria.
Knowing that small shifts in food mindset result in long term health benefits, we are removing fryers and freezers and replacing them with restaurant caliber, fresher foods. Offering employees an expanded selection of healthy offerings is just one of the reasons we’ve been recognized as a Best Place to Work in Health Care. Recent highlights include:
- Partnerships with three local farms (Natural Earth Organic, Sang Lee, Hudson Valley) to enable team members to participate in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.
- Northern Westchester Hospital opening a New Center for Healthy Living in 2019.
- Our registered dietitians providing wellness education for the community, employees and local/national publications.
