Adelaide chef Bethany Finn leaves Mayflower Restaurant to improve food in aged care
Acclaimed Adelaide chef Bethany Finn has left Mayflower Restaurant to take on a new role, improving the quality of food in aged care.
Food & Wine
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Acclaimed chef Bethany Finn is leaving Adelaide’s Mayflower Restaurant to help set a new standard in food provided in aged care.
Finn, who helped open Mayflower at the five-star Mayfair Hotel in 2015, is now the executive chef in residence for non-profit aged care provider, Life Care. In what is considered to be a South Australian first, the newly-created role will have Finn creating nutritious meals for Life Care’s five residential aged care homes across metropolitan Adelaide, as well as the soon-to-open assisted living accommodation in Joslin.
“You can go through the motions (of cooking) but at the end of the day if you care and enjoy what you do, it should translate, said Finn. “I’m very focused on nutrition for me and my family, and the enjoyment of eating good quality food. I don’t need to feel important and do it (cook) for the wrong reasons … this is an area that needs help.”
Not one to shy from a challenge, Finn was the first female executive chef of The Hilton at the age of 28, and has won a number of awards throughout her career.
“It’s a good time to go in a different direction,” Finn said. “With COVID, the change in the industry has been so dramatic and pretty much decimated a lot of business that relied on travel.”
Food icon Maggie Beer has long campaigned for better quality food in aged care, and said she was “thrilled that someone of Bethany’s calibre can be lured into aged care”.
“If there is one thing I know more than anything, it’s the difference it can make to the wellbeing of a resident in an aged care home when they have beautiful meals with all the sense of home and real cooking,” Beer said. “And I would love Bethany to be in touch with me!”
Life Care executive officer Allen Candy said he believed Finn’s work could help improve the quality of life for residents.
“As far as we’re aware, Life Care is the only South Australian aged care provider to employ
an executive chef to oversee the dining experience across its homes,” he said. “Our residents’ dining experience plays a pivotal role in their physical and emotional
wellbeing.”