Longtime Saratoga Grove Chef Cooks from the Heart

This is a paid post contributed by a Patch Community Partner. The views expressed in this post are the author's own, and the information presented has not been verified by Patch.

Food nourishes our bodies; it gives us strength and energy. But it can do much more than that — food can be exciting. It can comfort us; it can bring back memories. Food can help form community. And for the Food Services Director at Saratoga Grove Retirement & Assisted Living, food is a form of communicating care to the seniors he serves.

Victor Ortuno — or Chef Victor, as he’s known at Saratoga Grove — knows about food. He has been in food service since he was 16 years old. His experience varies wildly, and it prepared him well for the kind of chef he wants to be: he loves to try new things, and he loves to offer restaurant-quality meals to the residents.

Victor took four years of cooking classes in high school and started his career as a cook at a Wild-West-themed restaurant. He was named an executive chef by age 22. He served four years as executive chef at a banquet hall with a French bistro menu while he finished his culinary arts degree at Elgin Community College. Then he took the position of food service director at Saratoga Grove and Providence of Downers Grove.

“I love it, I love it, I love it,” he said.

Chef Victor is one of many staff at Saratoga Grove who have established longevity at the community, having served there for 15 years. Another member of his team has been there for 18 years, an LPN who used to work in dining has been there for 17 years, and the receptionist has worked at Saratoga Grove for 22 years. The list of employees who have worked at the senior living community for decades is a long one, mainly because the people who work there are dedicated to their mission: “to improve the lives of those we serve in the name of Jesus Christ.”

Chef Victor believes in enhancing lives through delicious food. He enjoys providing residents with meals that they can look forward to, including different ethnic food — they’re not going out to eat as much, he says, so he brings the types of food from different restaurants to them. Chef Victor likes to be bold in his cooking, and he uses a variety of recipes so that residents can experience different things.

He also enjoys cooking in front of the residents. When Saratoga Grove constructed a new buffet, Chef Victor customized it so that he could cook made-to-order omelets and fresh Belgian waffles.

“I have a passion for making food exciting,” he said.

He also works with the residents to serve them what they want: they get a different flavor of ice cream every day, for example. When a resident mentioned how much he missed going to Cubs games for hot dogs, Victor spent a summer night making hot dogs on the grill.

Victor enjoys preparing the food that nourishes residents and brings them together around a table. But the most important thing to Victor is that the residents are happy.

“Happy faces make my day,” he said.

Providence Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center and Saratoga Grove Retirement & Assisted Living have been serving the community since 1984. These non-for-profit communities are part of the Providence Life Services organization, which has been serving older adults for over a century. For more information about independent living, assisted living, memory care, respite care, skilled nursing care, or short-term rehabilitation therapy, go to www.SaratogaGrove.comThis is a paid post contributed by a Patch Community Partner. The views expressed in this post are the author's own, and the information presented has not been verified by Patch., or contact the community at (630) 454-9678.

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