San Francisco Fine Dining Chef Now Feeding Thousands of Seniors

Chef Richard Crocker wrestled a giant bag of polenta onto the ledge of a machine, pouring it into the great stainless steel beast as it roared to life. Just a couple years ago, this kind of mass quantity cooking would be unthinkable to Crocker, who spent 30 years in the kitchen of San Francisco's swanky Boulevard Restaurant. But in the kitchen of Meals on Wheels, leveling up is par for the course. 

"The challenges of working within the confines of what’s required gets me up every morning," Crocker said. 

Crocker's arc is an example of the great pandemic rerouting, where the cataclysmic global shutdown set people on unexpected paths. When Boulevard shuttered temporarily in March 2020, Crocker accepted a job offer at the San Francisco Meals on Wheels as executive chef, which was internalizing its cooking operations for the first time in a brand new building in the city's industrial Bayshore area. 

Where Crocker once served as many as 250 diners a night in Boulevard, he was now serving up to 4,000 seniors a day. 

"I think in fine dining it’s the creative process," Crocker said above the din of where a legion of workers were preparing meals on an assembly line. "Whereas here there are different challenges in the creative process." 

While the budget for creativity in the fine dining world is something of a blank check, the creativity in turning a pallet load of a canned carrots into a delicious meal for thousands taps into a whole different bank of skills. Crocker said the biggest jolt in his transition was learning how to scale up and up. 

"It’s big quantities," he explained. "And it’s judging when things are done, how long things are going to take." 

Crocker peaked into the polenta, which would be later paired with a Tuscan cod and a vegetable vinaigrette, begging the question of whether Crocker is bringing upscale food to masses of San Francisco seniors?  

"I’m not bringing fine dining to the masses," Crocker clarified. "I’m bringing, I hope, a little joy and deliciousness in their nutrition." 

When it comes to preparing menus, there are many cooks in the kitchen. Crocker consults his nutrition team as well as the city's senior nutrition experts. Balance that with what ingredients fit within the budget -- as well as can survive the twin devils of refrigeration and microwaving -- and you have quite a few wrinkles to smooth. And yet, last year the organization managed to serve 2.3 million meals. 

"He just brings a lot of joy to the staff," said Jim Oswald, Meals on Wheels spokesman. "You can see when he comes in the room or in the kitchen people light up. But more so, he knows how to prepare meals that are nutritious but also our seniors want to eat." 

For many seniors, the program is a lifeline, not only delivering several meals a day to homes but also serving as a social check-in for homebound seniors. For recently widowed senior Michael Moynihan, the daily meals are welcome.  

"They’re very good and they’re so easy, you just put them into the microwave and cook them up," Moynihan said. "They’re very good, and I don’t have to worry. My dinner’s right there."  

Even before he became executive chef, Crocker had long been involved with the program, helping to prepare meals at its annual fundraising gala. And though he's no longer preparing meals for a high-brow clientele plunking down hundreds of dollars, that doesn't mean there's any less love or thought going into each plate.   

"When we’re making giant batches, to remember that an individual senior in San Francisco is going to receive that one tray," he said. "Make sure that it’s special."