Coterie’s Fresh Approach to Dining: Keep It Local, Stay in Season

His commitment to quality is reflected in every aspect of Coterie’s culinary program, from emphasizing superfoods and other nutrient-rich ingredients to finding creative ways to bring out the flavors of every dish.

“Wellness can mean different things to different people,” Welch says, “and we are here to accommodate whatever journey our residents are on. If you're here for fun and indulgence, we can accommodate that too.”

His approach to Coterie’s culinary program prioritizes resident preferences and requests – “If someone wants canned corn hash for dinner, I’ll make sure they get canned corn hash” – but his favorite part of the job is creating delicious and nutritional meals that go beyond what most people could make for themselves at home. Whereas many senior living communities offer buffet-style meals, Welch and Coterie have implemented a genuine fine dining experience that can’t be matched in the assisted care industry.

It all begins with finding the finest local ingredients available.

When designing seasonal menus for Coterie’s Cathedral Hill community, Welch has a natural advantage: He was born and raised in the Bay Area, which he calls “the mecca of all things” when it comes to food and drink.

“The best cheeses in the U.S., the best wines in the U.S., the best farmland – it’s all right there at our fingertips,” he says.

Under Welch’s guidance, Coterie has developed partnerships with some of the top farms and farmers markets in the San Francisco area. This allows Welch and his team to build every menu item around fresh, seasonal fruits, vegetables, and proteins.

One recent dinner entrée featured lamb from Superior Farms in Sacramento with peppercress grown for Coterie by Lonely Mountain Farm.

“The lamb was so fresh, never frozen, and it was so good, we didn’t have to do anything extra to it,” Welch says.

For Coterie’s Hudson Yards community in Manhattan, Welch partnered with James Beard Award-winning chef Dan Kluger to procure fresh ingredients from farms in upstate New York and New Jersey. Hand-picked fruits and vegetables are delivered directly to Coterie’s kitchen from places like Upstate Farms, just a few hours away in Tivoli, New York.

Kluger’s critically acclaimed restaurant, Greywind, is right downstairs from the Coterie community, allowing for constant and innovative collaboration between the two kitchens. And Greywind’s bakery, run by Jake Novick-Finder, provides Coterie residents with fresh bread and pastries every day. (The collaboration also means Coterie serves delectable “grandma-style” pizza from Kluger’s Washington Squares kitchen at Loring Place.)

While Welch doesn’t let his commitment to seasonality limit his menu options, it sometimes leads to delicious innovations. For example, he likes to include a strawberry salad on the summer menu with red gem lettuce, almonds, and goat cheese. But noticing that strawberry season arrived later than usual – meaning it would be a little while before high-quality strawberries were available – he swapped them out for fresh blueberries from Jersey Fresh farms, with exquisite results.

“The way the blueberries pop, the salad somehow tastes even more complex,” he says.

Other menu options included a barbecue carrot soup with crème fraîche and roasted pepitas; shredded Brussels and kale with apples, currants, almonds, and Dijon mustard; and a pan-seared branzino with charred lemon and watercress. Summer breakfast options also feature plenty of seasonal vegetables like asparagus, carrots, and potatoes prepared in creative and flavorful ways.

For Welch, the most fulfilling part of his job is creating a truly upscale dining experience for senior residents in their own communities.

“To open actual restaurants in senior living environments and be able to do industry-standard things that nobody else in senior housing has adopted – that's perfect.”