PBS FOOD STYLIST IS EXTENDED CARE’S NEW FOOD SERVICE DIRECTORLawrence Brown, a food stylist for the PBS show, Healthy Heritage Kitchen, has come aboard as the new food service director at New Community Corporation’s Extended Care Center.
His goal: to make the food service at Extended Care a “first class operation.”
“I want it to be the most exciting restaurant in New Jersey,” he said. “The food should really resemble that in a restaurant, just like any one you would go to in Manhattan. It’s just a matter of presentation and more TLC.”
Healthy Heritage is a program that provides its viewers with healthier alternatives to traditional ethnic recipes. Brown, who has also worked at Trump Plaza, said he realizes individuals who find themselves in a nursing facility want to continue to enjoy their favorite dishes. They can do so and be satisfied while sodium and fat content are also lowered, he said.
“Low sodium doesn’t mean flavorless,” he insisted. “They are going to have a delicious meal and it won’t be bland.”
Brown, 40, is also looking to make the food at Extended Care more eye-appealing, saying presentation is important to the appetite. One can find dishes garnished with greens such as kale and parsley and fruits like strawberries and oranges since he took over.
“People eat with their eyes,” he said. “In life, presentation is important.” On a recent afternoon, one of his lunch plates seemed to go over really big. “It tastes good,” said Shirley Miller, 74, a resident of the 180-bed Extended Care Center, as she enjoyed flank steak, mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy and fiesta corn on a plate that had been garnished with kale and thin-sliced carrots.
Before coming to New Community, Brown worked as food service director at Regency Park Nursing and Rehab in Hazlet, Monmouth County. He has also served as food service director for the Atria Senior Living facility in Tinton Falls and the Asbury Park School District.
A native of Kingston, Jamaica who came to the United States 12 years ago, Brown once owned a bed and breakfast on the Caribbean island called Muscle & Art. The business also did catering for the Jamaican Tourist Board.
“I like art and I like keeping fit and healthy,” he said, noting that is how he came up with the name.
Noting that the last facility he worked for served predominately kosher food, Brown said his position at Extended Care is really allowing him the opportunity to “mix things up.”
“Now, I can get to really expand and experiment with different flavors and tastes, especially with the artist background I have,” said Brown, a graduate of the Culinary Education Center at Brookdale Community College in Monmouth County. “Being this is an ethnic community, my background could come in handy.”