Culinary
Careers Well Cared For
Our recipe calls for a healthier tomorrow
We believe innovation is the key ingredient in promoting wellness and is essential to transforming the healthcare culinary experience for our patients and our team members. From the way we prepare our foods to the way we prepare our team members for a successful career, including tuition reimbursement, our appetite for care grows stronger with each serving as we redefine “hospital food” and what it means to set the table for better health in the future.
Featured Jobs
Food for thought
When you become part of our culinary services, you’ll discover professional and personal advantages you simply won’t find anywhere else.
Join New York State’s largest private employer
Learn from Michelin Star award-winning chefs
Use food to enhance the healing process
Experience excellent work-life balance and growth potential
Enjoy competitive compensation and outstanding benefits
Redefining culinary excellence
Throughout our entire health system, we’re committed to advancing every aspect of food preparation and delivery. Take a look at some of the many ingredients that go into this integrated approach.
Food Sourcing
Teaching Kitchens
Northwell Hospital Gardens
Labor & Delivery/Maternity Culinary Initiative
In Room Dining
Wellness
Food Sourcing
To bring the highest quality, most nutritious food to our patients and staff, we make sure we begin with only the finest ingredients. This includes:
Fresh, never frozen, hormone- and antibiotic-free chicken raised on completely vegetarian diet
Fresh, never frozen, hormone & antibiotic free ground beef and burgers
Fresh, never frozen, sustainably and regionally harvested, long-line caught fish, and organic salmon
Hormone free, locally-raised milk
Only pasteurized shell and liquid eggs
Artisanal breads with no preservatives and low in sodium from some of the best local New York bakeries, as well healthy bagels from New Yorkers Bagels, some of the best bagels New York has to offer
Fresh brewed coffee, including Rainforest Alliance Certified beans
Artisanal, plant-based (vegan) and heart-healthy desserts that meet our heart-healthy Northwell Healthy Choice nutrition criteria
Fresh baked muffins that meet our heart-healthy Northwell Healthy Choice nutrition criteria
We also create our own stocks and soups in most of our hospitals, and work closely with our food partners to develop healthier, non-GMO, natural desserts. In addition, we’re developing healthier “never fried fries” and other innovative vegetable concepts.
Teaching Kitchens
As part of our commitment to elevating health and wellness, we developed the concept of teaching kitchens. Last year alone, we introduced over 153 teaching kitchens. These kitchens represent a partnership between our chefs and registered dietitians to share Northwell Healthy Choice recipes, basic culinary skills, and nutrition education with team members, patients and visitors. More than that, many of our teaching kitchens reach beyond the walls of our hospitals to form strong community partnerships with senior centers, schools, community centers, and more. Our teaching kitchens are also used internally to support team building opportunities.
Northwell Hospital Gardens
The delivery of exceptional food begins with our on-site hospital gardens. We currently maintain nine different gardens across Northwell Health, including an urban rooftop garden and LIJ Valley Stream’s hydroponic garden. Our gardens generate a harvest of hundreds of pounds of fresh herbs and vegetables each season. This produce is used for our patient and cafeteria menus as well as onsite farmer’s markets. The gardens are integrated with our teaching kitchens to deliver an innovative experiential immersion in farm-to-table cooking. Employee volunteers tend the gardens while patients are able to enjoy the serenity afforded by our garden. At Northern Westchester Hospital, our Kids Dig Dirt program even involves nursery and daycare children in planting and harvesting fresh vegetables.
Labor & Delivery/Maternity Culinary Initiative
Because we want babies and new parents to get off to a great start, we’re focused on enhancing the culinary experience for the special patients. We’ve introduced in-room dining and new upscale menus for patients and families at Lenox Hill Hospital, Northern Westchester Hospital and Phelps Hospital. This includes:
Fresh bakes lactation cookies made in-house at Northern Westchester Hospital
Candlelight dinner for new parents at Phelps Hospital
VIP and Signatures Services at Lenox Hill Hospital
In Room Dining
We have expanded and enhanced our in-room dining experience with a hospitality-focused model that gives patients greater control over what they eat and when they eat it by offering in-room dining to patients. In addition, Lenox Hill Hospital’s Signature Services include an upscale menu, china, and linen table service.
Wellness
We have developed an innovative approach to the food we offer our 76,000 team members in support of their health and well-being. In partnership with our registered dieticians and chefs, we have elevated our foods standards and refreshed our cafe offerings using our Northwell Healthy Choice heart-healthy nutrition criteria.
Knowing that small shifts in food mindset result in long term health benefits, we are removing fryers and freezers and replacing them with restaurant caliber, fresher foods. Offering employees an expanded selection of healthy offerings is just one of the reasons we’ve been recognized as a Best Place to Work in Health Care. Recent highlights include:
Partnerships with three local farms (Natural Earth Organic, Sang Lee, Hudson Valley) to enable team members to participate in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.
Northern Westchester Hospital opening a New Center for Healthy Living in 2019.
Our registered dietitians providing wellness education for the community, employees and local/national publications.
Robert Tompkins
Cook,
Northern Westchester
Hospital
Joined Northwell: 1979
Favorite thing about being a chef at Northwell: My favorite thing about cooking for our patients is being able to cook healthy meals with our fresh produce that comes in daily. I love knowing I can make a patient feel better with the dishes I take pride in making.
Favorite meal at the hospital: If I had to choose, it would be our amazing carrot ginger salmon or our roasted chicken. Our food looks and tastes amazing on our new china, prepared with fresh locally grown produce.
Robert is our most senior cook at Northern Westchester Hospital. His passion and focus on quality has helped this team to achieve high patient experience scores. Robert is always willing to go above and beyond for our patients, coworkers and visitors to ensure each receives high quality service.
– Chris Counts, Executive Sous Chef, Northern Westchester Hospital
Michael Abeleda
Chef de Partie,
Phelps Hospital
Joined Northwell: 2013
Favorite thing about being a chef at Northwell: I like to help people by providing healthy choices when it comes to eating. I like the fact that I can make someone feel better by eating good food that is made from scratch. Helping patients get well with food is something that is really motivating and satisfying.
Favorite meal: Chicken and pork adobo which is a Filipino dish.
Mike has been a key player in keeping the kitchen functioning through so many changes, and he’s the fundamental glue holding this team together. I know I can’t do anything without his support and view point. I value his expertise and knowledge, and he’s definitely a great asset for the future of this culinary growth.
Miles Farrell
Cook,
Northern Westchester
Hospital
Joined Northwell: 1979
Favorite thing about being a chef at Northwell: Working in an environment that allows me to utilize my skills while expanding upon them, and growing in areas of weakness.
Favorite healthy ingredients to cook with: Broccoli and Quinoa
Favorite meal at the hospital: Chicken parm, it was the first dish I was able to make from scratch with confidence.
Robert is our most senior cook at Northern Westchester Hospital. His passion and focus on quality has helped this team to achieve high patient experience scores. Robert is always willing to go above and beyond for our patients, coworkers and visitors to ensure each receives high quality service.
– Chris Counts, Executive Sous Chef, Northern Westchester Hospital
Frank Imbrosciano
Chef de Partie,
Huntington Hospital
Joined Northwell: 2014
Culinary School: NYIT
First job in culinary: My first job was a pot washer. It always amazed me what the chefs were able to create and the respect the received. I was always thrilled when they asked me to do the simplest tasks. This early exposure coupled with my love for food and the arts, led me to becoming a Chef.
Favorite thing about being a chef at Northwell: The ability to create a positive for a patient through the art of food. I am honored to be able to share my craft with patients, in hopes of brightening their day.
Favorite meal at the hospital: Our Marinated Airline Chicken Breast with a Rosemary Chicken Demi. The flavors and presentation make this dish a standout for me.
Frank is our First Cook here at Huntington Hospital and has been instrumental in the success of our room service program and high Press Ganey Scores. His culinary training is a formal education and then Hotels and Restaurants. His background, experience and goals is a great example of the culinary expectations and rewards of a career here at Northwell.
– William Dougherty, Executive Chef Huntington
Michael Estrada
Executive Sous Chef,
North Shore University
Hospital
Joined Northwell: 1999
Michael’s passion for using his culinary abilities to help others comes from his family. He believes that food is comfort and should give you a feeling like your grandmother made it. Michael is dedicated to giving back to the community, including co-hosting “Mike and Mike’s Lemonade Stand” to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House. He also volunteers at the Ronald McDonald House and many Northwell events.
Michael Estrada has dedicated 19 years of service here at North Shore University Hospital. He started as a part-time food service worker and through talent and hard work has grown to his current role as Sous Chef. During his time here, he has been consistently recognized for his strong work ethic, determination, skill and culinary passion. In 2015, Michael was recognized by the Association of Healthcare Food Service Administrators for Outstanding Service.
– Lyndon Espiritu, Director, Food & Nutrition Services, North Shore University Hospital
