Birchwood Grange Celebrates Win at Vegetarian for Life Awards 2023
On 18th October, rising stars in vegan and vegetarian care catering were honoured in an awards ceremony held in the Houses of Parliament. With more vegans and vegetarians moving into residential care every year, the annual awards recognise those pioneering the way in modern care catering.
Juan Lopez, Chef at Birchwood Grange Care Home in Harrow scooped the award for Most Innovative Veggie Dish, creating a vegan lemon panna cotta with blackberry-basil coulis. Juan was also a runner-up in the category for Most Innovative Veggie Dish, serving aubergine with a selection of dal and potato fondant. Amanda Woodvine, Chief Executive at Vegetarian for Life spoke of this achievement, stating, “We had a record number of entries for this year’s awards. One entrant even fought off competition to reach the finals not once but twice in the same category for his innovative vegan dishes. This is an outstanding achievement, and unheard of to date!”
Juan described how he is keen to showcase his innovative ideas to a wider audience, “These dishes were created with residents in mind, including those who find manipulating cutlery a barrier for various reasons. The ingredients are healthy, with a variety of flavours giving a fabulous combination of colours and healthy proteins from Asian lentils. The panna cotta is refreshing due to the combination of the raspberries, strawberries and coconut.”
Avery’s Director of Culinary and Hospitality, Simon Lawrence was delighted with the results. “This has been another superb year. We were thrilled to be selected for the Most Innovative Dish and were blown away with the results. The passion and attention to detail that Juan and the team at Birchwood Grange put into their diverse dishes is outstanding.”
Juan Lopez
Aubergine with Selection of Dal and Potato Fondant
Vegan Lemon Panna Cotta with Blackberry-Basil Coulis – Winner of Most Innovative Veggie Dish
