Where to begin describing the remarkable tenure of a husband and wife team of extraordinary chefs in our very own kitchen at Residences at Deer Creek! Steven Fehnel recently marked a decade as Sous Chef on March 28. Think about having served thousands of plates filled with deliciousness to our residents over the past ten years! Three times a day, 365 days a year, times 10, Steven has been responsible for making sure everything that goes into the actual preparing of meals, from planning to prepping the veggies and proteins, to cooking and organizing the service and servers.
No sooner is the breakfast rush over, but it’s time to start lunch. Repeat. While serving lunch, dinner is underway and served. Clean up, make sure everything is spotless in the kitchen, then head home to share a late supper with Executive Chef and wife Vanessa. Their dinner conversation is usually about tomorrow’s menu and service, making sure everything is under control.
Reflecting on the benefits of workplace longevity—
“Looking back on ten years, I’d say ‘we’ve got this’ without hesitation,” notes Steven. “Meals are of top importance to our residents. They look forward to every setting and many arrive early in anticipation of favorites as well as new specials we incorporate for variety.” He believes that the longevity, the many years of experience, has brought both he and Vanessa to the point where they handle every challenge with confidence and successful outcomes.
Of course the recent pandemic was an ultimate challenge. “You can imagine the anxiety of residents and families when the pandemic and resulting confinement first began. We needed to offer reassurance that we would still take great care of their needs; families needed to know that as well. We continued to serve hot meals, delivered to apartments until dining resumed in the restaurant,” he explains. They created snack carts and made rounds, keeping spirits up, all while ensuring staff morale was also maintained. “We knew we also had to show our staff we cared,” says Steven.
“When you’ve been here as long as we have, we don’t have to change much, we just adapt to a challenge.”
Steven believes there are many different benefits to having stayed at Residences at Deer Creek for so many years. “Vanessa and I can handle just about anything because we’ve had to, including that pandemic. Right now you would think of inflation and the rise in food costs as a major challenge and it is, it’s just not so big a deal to us. We purchase wisely and we are creative with the menu—we’ve always done this to maintain our budget.”
“When you spend years working together, you go through challenges together and that’s what makes a team great.”
It’s the people we see every day that makes the most important difference. Many of the staff have also been here for several years. We count on each other. What’s even more important is that we are serving a senior living community. Whether it’s our co-workers or residents, we know what’s going on because over time we’ve created connections with them,” Steven explains.
“We have made personal connections with everyone who lives here—we know what they like to eat, what they don’t like, and when they like to eat. We know when someone feels like having meals served in their apartment rather than in the restaurant that we can accommodate that need and also offer empathy and encouragement.
Steven describes a recent Thank You card a resident took the time to create and send to the kitchen after a recent hospital stay. “She wrote that she was glad that she would always have the same meal she would’ve had in the dining room delivered to her apartment. She said we helped make her recovery better while she was ‘stuck in her room’.” To Steven and Vanessa and their staff, that meant a great deal.
Longevity has an important quality connection.
Steven is responsible for making sure staff is well-trained, not only for serving residents but also with the quality controls for food handling. “Our goal is to ensure we are all ‘survey ready every day’ exceeding, not just meeting requirements. My years of experience here help me so much with my staff training responsibilities. I’ve learned a great deal about quality requirements and audits over these ten years that I can share with staff. But at the same time it’s on-going, there’s always something new, and that’s what I want to instill into each person on our staff—pay attention, know what to do, know why it’s important to do it, every time. I also have to be able to relate to new staff; I have to balance my understanding based on a ten year knowledge base with what it’s like to learn regulations. We’re always thinking of new ways to help them learn.”
“We’re here because we love what we do!”
That’s music to the ears of Karen Ayersman, Executive Director for Residences at Deer Creek. “Chef Vanessa and Chef Steven are invaluable support to new members of our team. Imagine the reassurance they provide—that eventually a new person will ‘get the hang of it’ and that our workplace offers stability. They are proof that we offer opportunity to grow and change within our community. Vanessa and Steven boost morale! “
Chef Steven’s Career—from Constructing Cabinets and Counters to 16-Layer Cakes!
It seems like Chef Steven has always been in the kitchen. Working with wood, he built cabinets and counters. A lay-off prompted him to accept an invitation from friends to join them in the kitchen at a popular country club. There he began as dishwasher, began food prep and salads, learned how to saute and cook with wine for “the big flames” and after that he became a night line-cook. Steven loved learning all of these creative food techniques and soon became a highly skilled pastry chef as well. In this kitchen he met his wife-to-be, Vanessa.
“We love what we do and we are best friends!”
Vanessa was first to submerge herself in the new adventure of working with a start-up opportunity—the literal building from the ground up of the new Residences at Deer Creek Senior Living. After a short time, Karen Ayresman asked her to become Executive Chef and plan the necessities of creating and operating the kitchen that would serve the needs of the older adults who would move into the new community. Vanessa and Karen share many memories of the sessions held to plan every aspect of Deer Creek—all from the temporary headquarters across the street.
Vanessa’s promotion left an opening for Sous Chef; that’s when Steven made the decision to follow. “It was a big step for us,” he recalls, “Taking a chance with a new job and with a newly-formed business, but it was obviously a great decision, for two ‘foodies’ who love to cook together, eat together, and be together, all the time.”
The two chefs have entered competitions and walked away winners. But their hearts continue to be dedicated to the residents at Deer Creek. They love to “cook with a flair” so they started The Chefs’ Table, bringing specially prepared ingredients and fare to residents on a regular basis. How does Shrimp Scampi over Rice with Asparagus sound?! And that was on a regular dinner menu!! “Making people happy with what we cook for them—that’s what it’s all about,” says Vanessa, time after time, over the past ten years. They are truly cooking for family, every day. “Chefs Vanessa and Steven know the likes and dislikes of every resident; they take time to talk with them and our residents look forward to that as much as the great meals. We are so grateful to have them both with us,” notes Karen.
So, what would you think a husband and wife team of chefs would do after a day whirling around a busy kitchen? Why, relax and enjoy a great meal together, of course!