Elmhurst Hospital Food is Delicious, and the Gold Medal Proves It

During its quarterly meeting Nov. 9, the Chicago-Midwest chapter of the Association for Healthcare Food Service hosted a culinary competition at Elmhurst Memorial Hospital.

Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare, The Garlands of Barrington, Northwest Community Hospital, Presence Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center, and Providence Life Services, competed in an “Iron Chef”-like contest in order to be named the best of the best in healthcare food service.  Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare’s Jim Roth and Yanka Manikatova brought home the gold with Roth’s winning dish of orange-cranberry pork tenderloin in a mustard pan sauce with spiced-butter spaghetti squash, braised brussels sprouts & pancetta.

For the past several years, healthcare food service has undergone an unprecedented transformation by recruiting some of the top chefs. Providing quality, tasty and nutritious meals to patients and caregivers is a part of the Planetree philosophy and essential to everyone’s health. This competition was a perfect way to showcase the talents of the Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare culinary staff.

Roth and Manikatova both received gold medals and acknowledgement from their peers and the Association for Healthcare Food Service. Winning this competition puts EMHC one step closer to qualifying for the national culinary competition in June 2013.