Fuchsia Dragon | [email protected]
A sparkling new kitchen is serving up fresh meals for the residents and Jasper community in Alpine Summit Seniors Lodge.
And the lodge wants you to name the new restaurant.
The kitchen was the vision of Evergreens Foundation’s CAO Kristen Chambers when the lodge opened in 2008.
“We worked very hard to get this approved and put in,” said Ornesto Tassoni, manager of the Jasper lodge. “We wanted to launch it and involve the community and make this place feel like home.”
Before the kitchen opened, seniors were getting their meals from the Jasper Seton Healthcare Centre hospital next door.
Now the lodge residents are dished up diverse delicacies from ethnic food to home-cooked style meals three times a day.
“It’s a wide variety with a lot of our residents’ input,” said Tassoni.
“The residents absolutely love it. They enjoy the food and the flexibility of the hours.”
In the kitchen are executive chef Tessa Huibers and cooks Leslee Huibers, Jorje Calvillo and Silvia Herrera.
“We are extremely proud of this team,” said Tassoni.
Alpine Summit is part of the community and invites local people to join seniors for meals.
Breakfast is served from 7:30 a.m., lunch from 12 noon to 1:30 p.m. and dinner from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Meal card booklets are available to buy from the lodge for $13 per meal and reservations should be made 24 hours in advance by calling (780) 852-4881 ext 4.
“Our focus is for seniors, families and friends to join our residents and feel part of our lodge,” said Tassoni. “We want our lodge to have that feeling that it’s not a nursing home but a fun home that we strive to make our residents and community part of. It’s an important message. We have changed the culture quite a bit and do a lot of activities that create that vibe and want families and residents to be involved.”
From yoga to Christmas carols, weekly outings in the lodge’s new travelling bus, card games, arts and crafts with live music, there is never a dull moment at Alpine.
As part of the lodge’s engagement with the community, Alpine Summit is holding a contest to name the restaurant with the winner receiving $130 worth of Restaurant Vouchers.
Ballots can be sent by email to: [email protected] or dropped off at the Alpine Lodge at 509 Turret Street by August 25.
