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From left: Top chefs Marcelo Almeida, Manar Alsebai, Jody Paglia Tanzman and James Dimarzio win the coveted Chefs' Choice award at the MA Health Council Awards Gala.
For the second year in a row, BWH chefs showcased their cooking chops and competed against other area hospital chefs as part of the annual MA Health Council Awards Gala. But this year, the BWH team went home with an honored distinction, winning the "Chefs' Choice" award for its fish taco bowl.
Chefs Manar Alsebai, James Dimarzio, Jody Paglia Tanzman and Marcelo Almeida served more than 300 portions of their dish at the event. The fish taco bowl was inspired by one of the new healthy menu options they cooked up for the BWH Cafeteria earlier this year as a way to provide better-tasting, more nutritious fare.
"The competition was a great venue for us to show a sample of what we have been working on at BWH," said Alsebai, production manager for BWH Food Services. "The recognition was our reward for all of the hard work put into the new health-driven menu, from recipe development to the rollout."
The new healthy BWH Cafeteria menu is part of "Your Choice, Your Health," a healthy eating program that kicked off at BWH last year and color-codes foods and beverages based on their nutritional value. The menu includes 28 entrees and 43 side dishes. Each day, one entree and two sides are served. The chefs felt the contest would be the perfect place to showcase one of these new dishes.
The MA Health Council Awards Gala, held last month at Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel, brings top health care leaders, legislators and health stakeholders together to honor standout leaders in health care. This was the fourth year the gala has been held, and the chefs' competition is quickly becoming the most popular portion of the event.
The "Chefs' Choice" award was decided by a panel composed of Boston-based celebrity chef Michael Schlow, of Bravo TV's "Top Chef Masters"; Wallace Christopher, executive chef at Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel; former New England Patriot Jarvis Green; leading nutritionist Miriam Nelson, PhD, of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University; and Delaware North Companies Chef Kevin Doherty. Each vote was based on taste, creativity, originality, presentation and nutritional balance.
"Everyone within BWH Food Services gets credit for this award because of all of the hard work that was done ahead of the event," Alsebai said. "That's when the planning and heavy lifting were done; we just showcased it."
The chefs hope to attract more diners with their new healthy offerings and create a better food experience for patients and the BWH community. "We have been working on this menu for a while, and it took a lot of people's effort and creativity," said Alsebai. "We are so proud of it."
BWH's award-winning fish taco bowl