Coterie Brings the Holidays Home to Residents

The season also comes with challenges for some; studies show that the holidays can often be an isolating and lonely time for older adults. In many assisted living communities, the holidays are a time when people leave to go out to dinner or visit family.

But Coterie believes the holidays are best enjoyed in a warm atmosphere where residents and their loved ones feel welcome and at home.

“The goal for us is to make Coterie the place you want to spend holidays with your family,” Executive Chef Chad Welch says. “We want to provide a culinary and social experience that can compete with anywhere else you could go.”

Holiday traditions are some of the most personal and treasured memories we have, and Coterie honors this by leaning into the nostalgic trappings of the season.

“We believe in sticking with the classics for these meals,” Welch says. “There’s a reason the food we think of for these holidays has been around so long.”

The Thanksgiving dinner feast is served family style: white and dark turkey meat, delicious cider-cured pork loin, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, Brussels sprouts, yams, and green beans. The Cathedral Hill location hosts a cocktail soiree in the Monarch Room featuring an array of gourmet breads and spreads, including marmalade, fennel, and pistachio butter. The Hudson Yards location hosts a holiday reception in Lena’s Lounge with smoked seafood and charcuterie with caviar.

The holiday season festivities continue with a Christmas tree-lighting party complete with carolers and cocoa. A Coterie Social Series event follows later in the month, featuring a visit from Santa and a community toy drive benefiting Toys for Tots.

Hanukkah celebrations begin with a menorah-lighting ceremony on the first night, with residents gathering to light candles on each successive night. On Christmas Eve, residents and their guests are treated to an extravagant dinner while a string quartet plays holiday music.

Meals are designed to be as flexible and accommodating as possible to allow residents and their guests to adhere to their personal holiday traditions. For Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, residents can reserve tables for themselves and guests throughout the afternoon and evening. The kitchen also takes special requests if residents are looking for less-traditional fare – Welch once served up a round of Thanksgiving burgers for one of his Coterie parties.

Coterie caps off the season with a New Year’s Eve party featuring a black-tie prix fixe dinner and a live band playing jazz and swing classics. Residents gather for a champagne toast to ring in the new year, though they don’t have to stay up until midnight. Cathedral Hill residents raise their glasses at 9pm PST when the ball drops in Times Square.

“It’s great for everyone because they get to celebrate the new year and still go to bed early,” says Cathedral Hill Assistant General Manager Armando Pardo. “This way, everyone gets a good night’s sleep before the New Year’s Day brunch.”

Coterie operates a portfolio of luxury senior living communities spanning the East and West Coasts. Please note that the services, partnerships, and amenities mentioned in this article may vary by location.