Nueva Vista Sacramento Unveils New Commercial Kitchen

November 21, 2017 - A gleaming, state-of-the-art commercial kitchen is now operating at Nueva Vista Sacramento. Designed to prepare food for 150 people, this new culinary oasis was designed with Psynergy’s current and future clients in mind.

“This kitchen was designed to maximize the potential for creative food service,” says Mike Weinstein, Chief Financial Officer and one of Psynergy’s original founding partners. “It is the first kitchen we’ve built since we’ve been in business that is exactly what we wanted.”

The company invested around $300,000 in an architect-designed kitchen boasting the latest appliances, including a big commercial stove with an enormous flat grill, convection oven and beverage center. A serving station allows clients to be served cafeteria style from a steam table. Clients can also see the food being cooked and prepped for serving through a large window from the dining room. At about 500 square feet, the kitchen has several workstations that can easily accommodate up to four staff doing food prep at the same time. The adjacent separate pantry has its own cooling system to keep various items like breads and fruits at an ideal temperature.

Although the current census at Nueva Vista Sacramento is 56 residents, the campus will eventually house between 100 and 120, so the kitchen was designed to accommodate an expanding population.

“All of our clients here are served hot meals, cooked on site by a chef who is really passionate about the food,” says Weinstein. “We wanted this facility to be unique. It is a beautiful space, but it is also efficient. With the convection oven we can do pastries very quickly, special recipes with less sugar that are better for you,” he smiles. “Our director of food services is a former pastry chef from Europe. He designs all of the menus to make food that is not only delicious, but healthy as well.”

Christophe Haefele is Psynergy’s executive chef, and he is equally enthusiastic about the kitchen. “The equipment here is very high quality, which gives the chef an opportunity to use diverse cooking styles,” says Haefele. “The convection oven gives color and equal heat throughout the cooking process. The philosophy of our cooking here is to develop a diet to benefit all of the common problems we see – diabetes, heart problems, high blood sugar, high blood pressure – and make it taste wonderful. So we use a lot of whole grains, restaurant-quality meats from the same company that supplies 80% of the restaurants in Sacramento, and adapt the menus to take advantage of the year-round seasonal produce available in California.”

According to Haefele, November is the month for fresh root vegetables, leeks, sweet potatoes and squash. He likes the idea that people can see the cooking process through the window. “When clients see us cooking fresh food daily, they are more willing to eat the food we offer, and they are more comfortable trying new things,” says Haefele. “When they actually see the vegetables toasting on the flat grill, they become more open to trying Indian, French, Moroccan and Spanish dishes. They feel confident that meals are fresh, good and not from a can.”

Here’s what Nueva Vista Sacramento will be serving to celebrate Thanksgiving!

Roast Turkey

Vegetarian Stuffing

Giblet Gravy

Cranberry Sauce

Mashed Yams

Green Bean Casserole

Whole Wheat Rolls

Apple Pie

Cheesecake Pumpkin Pie