Many factors go into picking the right retirement community: Cost, proximity to family, and social offerings among them.

For some seniors, the food also plays a big part in that decision.

“We all eat every day, so it’s a pretty important thing in our lives,” says Eowyn Sallis, vice president of sales and marketing at Spokane-based Rockwood Retirement Communities. “It’s an experience. It’s not just the food put in front of you.”

Dining amenities are a top priority for leadership at Rockwood, Sallis says, with constantly changing menus, careful attention paid to residents’ dietary restrictions, and chefs sent to train at Washington State University’s culinary program.

Dishes like zucchini blossoms stuffed with mascarpone and ricotta cheeses, or flat iron steak with a red wine and gorgonzola reduction also point to a level of culinary expertise that might not have been commonplace at retirement homes in the past.

“It’s not your old man’s senior living, is it?” asks Andy Gorton, general manager of the Rockwood South Hill campus.

The answer to Gorton’s question would be yes, however, if your old man is one of the roughly 750 residents at Rockwood South Hill or Rockwood at Whitworth.

There are seven dining venues between the two campuses.

At the South Hill campus, which is located at 2903 E. 25th, residents can choose between Embers Grille, a casual restaurant with an open-kitchen concept and large pizza oven; Livingston’s, a fine-dining establishment; Fireside Lounge, a full-service cocktail bar with a bistro menu; and Rocky’s Café & Store, which offers gourmet coffees, smoothies, baked goods, and numerous grab-and-go food options.

At the Rockwood at Whitworth campus, located in North Spokane at 10322 N. Middleton Drive, dining options include Ventures Grill, the campus’s main dining venue that features a wide range of dishes; Pub 101, which is described as having a sports bar ambience; and Rituals Café, which offers a similar selection to Rocky’s Café & Store.

Residents of the two communities can use their meal plan credits as they choose. The meal plans are included in the monthly service fees that residents in the apartments pay.

Rockwood residents who live in the homes on campus also have access to the eateries and can opt into voluntary meal plans.

Each dining venue uses the same point-of-sale system, which keeps a register of every resident.

When residents use their accounts to purchase food and drinks, the system shows staff all their allergies, intolerances, and preferences.

“That’s their safety net,” says Michelle Duke, director of dining and life enrichment at Rockwood South Hill.

If a resident isn’t supposed to have dairy, for example, the system will alert the staff so they can remind the resident.

Nutritional data, for example total carbohydrates and sodium levels, is also provided to residents with each meal.

“We do gather that information and offer them that tool so they can make their own decisions. A lot of these folks live independently, and it’s not up to me to tell them,” Duke says. “We provide them the information to make those choices for themselves.”

Attention to nutrition and dietary restrictions is especially important for the assisted living, memory support, and skilled nursing patients at Rockwood.

For those patients in the health center areas, Rockwood employs full-time dieticians who manage the food being served.

A chef is designated specifically to cook for health center residents.

“There’s consistency there, there’s recipe-following, there’s that person who also knows what’s selling and what’s not selling,” Duke explains.

Duke says Rockwood puts a lot of focus and time into making sure the health center foods, which include more purees and foods of softer consistencies, are restaurant quality.

All residents at Rockwood are encouraged to dine at the various restaurants, Duke says, but they can also have food delivered to their apartments or homes on campus.

Food at Rockwood, which is all cooked to order, is held to a high standard, Duke says.

“We hire high-quality chefs so that residents can get that fine dining experience,” she says. “I once had a resident who told me, ‘Michelle, you are serving palates that have traveled the world. You need to learn to get the food to that level.’”

Mary James, food service director at Rockwood at Whitworth, contends that the food served at the Rockwood campuses rivals the food served at most restaurants throughout town.

“Anything you can find out in restaurants, we can do here,” James asserts.

Michelle Duke and Mary James, who lead the culinary teams at Rockwood South Hill and Rockwood at Whitworth, have each worked at Rockwood for about 10 years. -Dylan Harris

To ensure that high standard, Rockwood put both James and Duke, as well as the executive chef at the South Hill campus, through the two-year WSU culinary program.

They did so through scholarships from Rockwood’s foundation.

“The thing with food service is you have to continually be innovative and forward thinking and trendy,” says Duke. “You really have to have quality chefs.”

The South Hill campus employs about 70 dining staff, and the North Spokane campus employs about 40.

Food catering is also available to residents, if they want to use meal credits to have parties or gatherings on campus with their friends or families.

Rockwood also holds Friday farmer’s markets throughout the summer, at which local farmers bring in fresh produce, and the Rockwood team bakes fresh bread and other items and makes things like pickles or jams.

Residents can use their meal plan credits at the summer markets.

The sales team at Rockwood makes a point of highlighting the dining amenities when showing prospective residents and their families around the facilities, Sallis says.

“The thing we see the most is that people look at the menu and they’re very surprised at all the variety,” Sallis says. “There’s truly something for everyone.”

Duke says it’s important to be flexible with the menus and listen to the residents.

“A lot of the feedback we get from residents is what drives our choices on the menu,” Duke says.

To try and meet the wide range of preferences of the hundreds of residents, the menus change quarterly, with different weekly specials, and a homestyle menu that changes every five weeks.

“If you’re gluten free, dairy free, vegan, vegetarian, we can accommodate,” James adds.

Dining at Rockwood is a source of pride for both the staff and residents, Sallis says.

“The proof of the pudding is when you see our independent residents bring their families and their friends here because they’re proud of the restaurants,” she says.