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Chef Chris Singlemann cooks up something good at Peconic Bay Medical Center. (Photo credit: Madison Fender)

Last August, chef Chris Singlemann received one of the greatest honors of his career.

Singlemann was awarded a Snail of Approval from Slow Food East End, the local chapter of the international organization founded in Italy in 1986 promoting and advocating for good, clean, fair and sustainable food practices. The Snail of Approval is a prestigious award given to food establishments that exercise and share Slow Food’s principles, and receiving the honor is no easy feat — the criteria includes food sourcing, environmental impact, cultural connection, community involvement, staff support and business values.

For Singlemann, a career chef, the Snail of Approval represents, in many ways, the culmination of years of work. But the chef is not the proprietor of a small bistro or local farm-to-table restaurant that could feasibly check off the Slow Food boxes. Rather, Singlemann is the executive chef at Northwell Health’s Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, the East End’s largest healthcare hub and one that has seen massive expansion in recent years thanks to a host of major grants and new programs.

So how does a chef for a major hospital — one tasked with preparing and providing food for hundreds of patients a day, as well as their loved ones — come to win such an award? 

The answer starts with a major initiative across the Northwell Health system, but ends with a passionate chef with a desire to do good.

Chef’s special

Singlemann didn’t start as a hospital chef, and it certainly wasn’t a career goal.

After graduating from Johnson & Wales University in 1984 with a degree in culinary arts, he began a long career in restaurants, including Giorgio’s in Baiting Hollow and a 23-year stint as the executive chef of Watermill Caterers in Water Mill.

“When I started my career, [hospital food] was laughed at,” says Singlemann, whose first job was as chef de cuisine at the former La Mascotte. “My mentor, Jean-Claude [Denner of La Mascotte], when he was upset with [a customer] he would say, ‘go tell them to eat at a hospital.’ It was a joke.”

So when the opportunity to work at PBMC arose in 2018, Singlemann was skeptical, but curious.

“It was extremely surprising,” says Singlemann. “I’m going to be perfectly honest, the industry is brutal and I had been looking to get out of the grind, so to speak.” 

By chance, he came across an article about Northwell Health’s recent hire of Michelin-starred chef Bruno Tison, who had been brought on as vice president of system food services and corporate executive chef. Northwell, a major healthcare system across the United States, wanted to revolutionize the culinary experience at its hospitals.

“I was intrigued for numerous reasons,” Singlemann says. “Number one is being able to make a difference for a person. I’ve done weddings and things like that, but this was an opportunity to be part of someone’s recovery. The fact that it was being headed up by a Michelin-starred chef — I’d still be able to do what I loved to do with quality product. I didn’t want to be a chef who spends his entire career opening up cans and heating up frozen food.”

When Singlemann was hired at PBMC, any worries of warming up frozen Salisbury steaks were quickly squashed. Tison’s goal for Northwell hospitals was to develop a restaurant-style menu. “When you’re in a hospital, it’s the worst place to be, right?” says Singlemann. “When you look at the menu, we want to take you away from your [situation].”

Pudding cup? Try pot de creme.

While the menus still comply with healthcare standards set by the hospital’s dietitians, the offerings are worlds away from what one might expect from “hospital food.” Entrees include grass-fed filet mignon, market fish of the day, build-your-own omelets and sandwiches, avocado toast, as well as seasonal delights like chilled English pea soup with goat cheese panna cotta in the spring and summer and chicken pot pie in the colder months.

“The chicken pot pie is a huge comfort food, but we’ve made it dairy free, gluten free and much healthier than a traditional one,” says Singlemann. 

Desserts include pot de creme, Junior’s cheesecake and other seasonal items. Some of the menu favorites include the aforementioned filet mignon, braised short ribs and Moroccan lamb stew.

Chef Chris Singlemann is Northforker’s 2024 Person of the Year. (Photo credit: Madison Fender)

But if there’s something a patient wants that isn’t on the menu, Singlemann will go out of his way to make it happen, and works with doctors and nurses to make sure the patient is getting their nutrients and dietary needs met while still enjoying meals. Singlemann often meets with patients one-on-one and discusses their likes and dislikes, trying to make sure they’re happy with the food.

“I go to speak to a patient and say, ‘what can we do to make your stay better?’” Singlemann says, while acknowledging that he makes sure to speak with the patient’s care team to ensure he’s staying within the parameters to keep each patient safe and healthy.

Singlemann also works with local purveyors and experts to bring special ingredients to the hospital, including developing an apiary for PBMC with expert beekeeper Chris Kelly to harvest and serve fresh honey.

Eat local

Amy Loeb, president of Peconic Bay Medical Center, never thought she’d see patients actually enjoy the food at a hospital.

“I remember being at the bedside with patients who wanted to eat but didn’t want what was presented to them,” she says. “That’s sort of the stereotype for hospital food, right?”

Loeb, who has a background in nursing, says Peconic Bay Medical Center reaped the benefits of joining the Northwell Health system in 2016, just as Northwell was preparing the push toward a better food program. To her surprise and delight, the initiative wasn’t just about the food, but also the way it was served.

Tara Anglim (left) and Amy Loeb sample Chef Chris’ work. (Photo credit: Madison Fender)

“It’s about the whole experience,” she says. “It’s about serving food on beautiful china. It’s fresh, hot coffee. It’s local ingredients. Our freezer is empty at this point.”

The hospital started sourcing locally on the North Fork and East End. All the ingredients are traceable to the source.

They also treat the menu like room service. Patients can order food whenever they want, and as long as their dietary needs are being met, can have whatever they want. Patients’ loved ones and caregivers are also welcome to enjoy the menu, for $5 fee per dish. 

“We also offer, for a very reasonable price, meals for family members,” she explains, “because we recognize that a patient, partner, spouse, child may be spending the day at the bedside, and to be able to enjoy high quality meals together right at the bedside in the hospital is also very important, so we decided that that is a part of the experience, as well.”

Compliments to the chef

The response to the menu from patients is, unsurprisingly, overwhelmingly positive.

Tara Anglim, head of patient experience at the hospital, says not a day goes by without the hospital receiving great feedback about the food.

“I’ve worked here for 12 years, and to see its transformation is exceptional,” says Anglim. “One of the biggest complaints people used to have was about the hospital food … People are just so blown away by the culinary experience that we are able to provide under chef Chris’s leadership.”

Food is a pivotal part of the patient experience, which encompasses the culmination of many different interactions that a patient experiences when engaging with healthcare, says Anglim.

“It really starts at the very first interaction [at the hospital], whether you’re entering the parking lot or coming into the emergency department or the front lobby, all the way through to your discharge,” Anglim says. “Think about how many touches there are by different people, different departments and all that together is really the sum of what makes up the patient experience.”

Anglim believes that prior to Northwell’s push for a better culinary program, the healthcare industry discredited the importance of food. 

“There was really a challenge to say, how can we transform the way we’re approaching culinary experiences for patients and use it as an opportunity to exceed their expectations, but also show them that healthy food is also food that they’re going to like,” she says.

A Slow Food star

The positive patient experience ultimately led to the Snail of Approval.

Ralph Reinerstsen visited PBMC for a double hip replacement toward the end of the pandemic and was blown away by the food. Unbeknownst to the hospital, they were treating the chair of Slow Food East End’s Snail of Approval committee.

In a press release, they said, “It’s not every day Slow Food East End does something first. Our parent organization has a long history of recognizing food producers, winemakers, farmers, and restaurants around the world who engage in sustainable food practices. Our mission is to highlight and promote businesses who prioritize producing food that is healthy, good for the people who grow it, and good for the planet. When one of our board members, Ralph Reinerstsen, had a couple of surgeries at Peconic Bay Medical Center, he learned one of our local hospitals was actually checking all of our Snail evaluation boxes.”

During the award ceremony in August at the hospital, Reinerstsen said, “I left here both times in such a positive manner. I was treated better than at some restaurants. The food was — that’s the criteria we use — the food was Manhattan good.”

“We are the first organization — non-restaurant group — to receive this!” Loeb exclaims. “It’s just awesome. And chef Chris is such a caring, wonderful human being and people that surround him in the kitchen and the people that are taking orders and delivering the food…it’s such a culture of caring in that department, with chef Chris setting the example.”

Slow Food’s vice chair of communications, Sunita Narma, told the Riverhead News-Review in August that the organization was deeply impressed by the hospital.

“It’s obviously about the food but it’s also about their employee practices and what they’re doing with the hospital,” Narma said. “Obviously the hospital is getting recognition for their medical work, but I think it’s great to be able to also focus on the food aspect of it.”

Singlemann still smiles thinking about the honor. 

“For me and my team, it’s just validating everything that we’ve been shooting for,” says Singlemann, “that all our efforts are making a difference.” 

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