Facing burnout from his time as a fine dining chef, David Martin’s parents suggested he pivot to working in the kitchen of a nursing home.
To this, he replied, “'Why would I want to go to aged care? That's where people retire. My skills will go to waste,'" per an interview with Business Insider.
But now, as the executive chef manager at St. Vincent’s Care, a nursing home facility in Melbourne, Australia, he is eating his words.
Teaming up with another chef with a similar background, Harry Shen, the pair have a vision to elevate the standard of food in these facilities.
“We want to break the stereotype that aged care food is just a lump of food on a plate,” Shen said.
The chefs provide a continental breakfast, a hearty lunch with an entree, starch, and two vegetables, a generous dinner selection, and of course, tasty (and not too sugary) sweets.
Their meals come in a variety of options to meet the needs of the residents, who may face a myriad of health conditions.
This style of dining is then replicated across St Vincent’s Care’s 10 properties, each with its own production kitchen staffed by between three and 30 kitchen professionals, collectively producing 20,000 meals a day.
“I have a team who have come from some of the best restaurants in the country,” Martin told Bidfood.
“There used to be a stigma around working in aged care, as if it were for chefs who were bored and just wanted to clock in and out. We’ve proven that it can be a pathway for industry professionals to be as creative and passionate as they have ever been.”
It’s been fulfilling for a whole team of chefs, Martin included.
“The biggest difference for me as a chef is that working in aged care you create a rapport with the residents — you work with them day in, day out and you get to understand their tastes, preferences and nutritional needs,” he told the Food Service Rep blog.
“Whereas in a restaurant you might see your regular customers once a month and some customers only once a year — you certainly don’t have daily interaction.”
In 2024, Martin in Shen also participated in an international culinary competition — International Salon Culinaire. The duo took home silver medals, and most importantly, raised awareness about the need for high-quality meals in aging populations.
There are budget and hiring constraints for this model to be adapted around the world, but in the meantime, Martin and Shen are already mentoring chefs in the region to follow in their footsteps.
Martin said, “We want to make this industry better for now and into the future for our parents and grandparents to be respected in.”
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A version of this article was originally published in The 2025 Food Edition of the Goodnewspaper.
Header image courtesy of David Martin/LinkedIn
