Head Chef At Bucks Co. Senior Home Wants To See Residents Smile

YARDLEY, PA — Calvin Taylor was hired to be executive chef at Heartis Yardley Senior Living in October, and baked french bread, coffee cake, and pumpkin bread for prospective residents to try before the community opened in April.

“I always got a really good response,” he told Patch. “‘Oh, that was delicious — you’re going to be the chef there?’ I’d say 'yes, I’m going to be the chef there.'”

Taylor had big plans for this job. In his kitchen, 80 percent of the meals are cooked from scratch — a number he’s hoping to get even higher — and Integral Senior Living gave him free reign to design the community’s entire menu. But he also came in with above-and-beyond goals for resident comfort, which he’d been developing throughout his nearly 40-year-career in food.

At 16, Taylor worked as a dishwasher in a Philadelphia nursing home — eventually gaining a job as a waiter, then as the dining room supervisor, and then as the head cook. He said other chefs and cooks in the restaurant showed him the ropes: how to keep your uniform presentable, how to make a beautiful plate, and more. (That’s also where he met his wife, Jennifer, who was working as a social worker and later as a registered nurse).

When he turned 20, he decided to go to The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College — and in his second year, he traveled to France to learn about their culinary scene.

“I was so happy that I went, because it’s a difference of the way that waiters present their food,” he said. “They took it seriously.”

While working toward his associate’s degree, he interned at a hotel. Then, after graduating, he became head manager at the nursing home, worked at the catering company Frog Commissary, and worked at Olive Garden. In his first month at Olive Garden, he was employee of the month — an accolade he attributes to the teachings and sensibilities of his mentors.

Before long Taylor would be a mentor himself, working as a chef at a variety of area nursing homes.

“I’ve been developing things that I thought would satisfy seniors,” he said. But many communities were set in their ways, and weren’t willing to work with him to implement his ideas.

Not so in Taylor’s new position. He’s been able to create the menu, respond directly to residents’ needs and wants alongside cook Aaron Jackson, and try something he’d been dying to do: individualized meals.

Serving more than 80 residents, he can’t make everyone exactly what they’d like each night. But when new people move in, he takes time to meet them, ask when their birthday is, and ask their favorite dessert. On the day, he wishes them happy birthday on the menu and makes their chosen dessert to celebrate.

“I’m happy because I’m able to see the smiles on their faces for something I’ve been wanting to do for such a long time,” he said. “And I knew the response would be that.”

Working in senior living also presents its own challenges — but Taylor is always ready to deliver what residents want. For one community member who can only eat a small amount of salt per day — but tried a piece of his wife’s crab cakes and loved them — Taylor made his own special crab cakes, with all kinds of herbs and spices so that they taste just as good. Now, he can ask whenever he'd like one.

When Taylor's potato pancakes weren’t coming out quite right, a resident gave him his son’s recipe and asked if he’d like to try it out on the menu. Now, the menu advertises “Jack Haberman’s Potato Pancakes” and Taylor says residents are thrilled.

“It was a win-win,” he said.

Taylor is devoted to his job, and to the community members who eat his food. But he also loves baseball and all four Philadelphia sports teams, and he’s a musician in his spare time who’s released three R&B records.

He and his wife are also parents, of a son who’s now 16 himself.

“Without the two of them, I don’t think I would be who I am today,” he said, adding, “My wife is my hero.”

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Got tips, story ideas, or questions in Lower Bucks County? Email kate.fishman@patch.com.