With Patient Attention

ROOM SERVICE in any place with 697 beds would be a trial; but Eric Eisenberg faces more than the usual share of challenges for a chef. Eisenberg is executive chef for the Nutrition Services Department at Swedish Medical Center, where room service has been offered since 1997. Now, they're serving 1,600 meals a day at the First Hill hospital.

"We were one of the first — definitely the first large hospital — to offer room service with a menu," says Kris Schroeder who introduced the service and received an Ivy Award for the hospital's program in 2004. One of the most prestigious awards in the industry, the Ivy goes to six restaurants or food-service programs per year in recognition of "the highest standards of excellence in food, service and overall hospitality," by Restaurants & Institutions magazine.

"We customize the menus for each physician-ordered diet," says Schroeder; and a computer system alerts the kitchen if a patient orders an item not on that patient's diet. "Room service was relatively easy," says Schroeder. "Now we want to raise the bar again and elevate the quality of food."

"That's why I'm here," says Eisenberg. Before he arrived, the hospital never had a chef. "Our food program was unique," he explains, "but the food itself was pretty ordinary. It wouldn't be unusual to see an ice cream scoop of mashed potatoes with generic poultry gravy; we want to move beyond that." That means "more sustainable, higher-quality products and more interesting preparations — fresh fish, whole grains, fresh vegetables."

Eisenberg recently replaced one of the choices at the hospital cafeteria carving station with cedar-planked salmon, and in August, his culinary team won first place in the National Healthcare Foodservice Management Culinary Challenge with a dish called Mojito Chicken Cubanos. Marinated in lime soda, pounded thin and rolled up with ham, the skewered chicken breast is grilled and served with a Manchego cheese fondue, red-pepper relish, and a spiced puree of mango and pinto beans. This is not your father's hospital fare.

"We're no longer serving the older generation," says Eisenberg. "Baby boomers want food they perceive as healthier and better tasting than the old standard."

A native New Yorker with an extensive background in haute cuisine, Eisenberg is familiar to many Seattle-area food lovers as the man who ran Relais restaurant in Bothell. There, Eisenberg leaned on his French training to produce dinners that earned him a reputation as one of Seattle's most distinguished chefs. After he sold the restaurant in 2001, Eisenberg went to work at a country club, but he was restless. "Then one morning I saw this ad for a chef at Swedish Hospital, and something just clicked. I hit the ground running, and I can't believe what a good fit it's been."

Greg Atkinson is author of "West Coast Cooking." He can be reached at greg@northwestessentials.com. Barry Wong is a Seattle-based freelance photographer. He can be reached at studio@barrywongphoto.com.