Hospital cafe moves upstairs for fresh look, fresh food

By Amanda McCorquodale

Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Mich., is shining new light on its dining area, quite literally, by moving the café upstairs from the basement into a cheery, bright space flooded with daylight. The Gathering Place opened July 21 after a 20,000-square-foot renovation and a 4,000-square-foot addition that followed years of planning.

The old cafeteria, which was built in the 1980s, served mostly precooked fare and seated 250. The Gathering Place, in contrast, is nearly double the space with 500 seats and includes six stations offering made-to-order food. 

The menu centers around “fresh, modern, innovative and healthy choices,” says executive chef Laura Fellows, who has a background in artisan farm-to-table restaurants, a major convention center catering events for 15,000 guests and a nonprofit providing nutrition to people with life-threatening illnesses. “We don’t even have any fryers for fried food because we’re a healthcare organization and we’re trying to help people feel better.”

Although Fellows was hired after the space was designed, she says, “it’s a really well thought-out space. The stations are self–sufficient and have their own cooking equipment, refrigeration, under-the-counter dishwashers and prep space. There’s even two additional prep kitchens to support them.”

The pizza station features a wood-burning oven. Photo: Trumpie Photography

The pizza station is outfitted with a wood oven and offers a standard artisanal cheese pizza as well as rotating choices of meat, vegetarian or specialty pizza options. “The most popular is by far the bacon, sharp cheddar, Granny Smith apple and maple syrup pizza” Fellows says. “It’s incredible.” 

At the grill station, burgers are a big hit but there are also more health-conscious choices such as grilled salmon marinated in an herb, garlic and shallot oil. Popular items at the deli station include freshly made sandwiches such as an all-natural turkey, bleu jack, bacon jam, spinach and tomato on a pretzel roll, and vegan chickpea salad, cucumber, tomato, dill, lemon and spring mix on a ciabatta roll.

A robust salad bar offers edamame and corn salad with mint vinaigrette; quinoa tabouli; and soba noodles with carrot, scallion, bok choy and a lemon soy dressing. There’s a self-serve soup station with three options that cycle over three weeks to keep options fresh. “We also have three sushi chefs from an outside company on site making fresh rolls all day,” Fellows says. “It’s enormously popular.” There’s also an allergy friendly station that offers gluten-free, shellfish-free and tree- and peanut-free meals.

Fellows says that on a slow day, The Gathering Place does double the amount of sales as the former cafeteria, which amounts to upwards of 5,000 meals a day. Lunch is the busiest mealtime, and most stations are open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. To serve those working early and late shifts, there is also a section called Chef’s Corner that is open 5:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. for breakfast and late night from 11 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.

Some of the new dining area’s success can be attributed to its central location on the first floor of the main hospital and its floor-to-ceiling atrium window that looks out onto bustling Michigan Avenue. “Sparrow Hospital has been on Michigan Avenue for 120 years,” says Fellows. “The senior leadership here feels a strong commitment to the community and improving the downtown area. The Gathering Place created three dozen new jobs and offers locals a healthy and delicious place to eat.”

The ample daylight from that large front window also keeps a living wall of 1,500 plants green and healthy, which adds a modern and vibrant atmosphere to the space. “The living wall, which was donated by the hospital guild, is gorgeous,” Fellows says. It’s self-irrigated from behind, and the plant company comes to check the health of the plants every two weeks.

The demonstration kitchen is where community educational classes take place. Photo: Trumpie Photography

Beyond the living wall of plants, another standout feature is The Gathering Place’s demonstration kitchen, donated by a local company, where hospital dietitians will run a program of community education on weight management classes, healthy eating, diabetes management, as well as cooking demonstrations.

“Ultimately, Sparrow’s senior leadership wanted to create a space where caregivers and staff can get away from the pressures of work and a space for patient families—who are under at least as much stress as the patients themselves—to relax, recharge and recuperate,” Fellows says. “It’s also not uncommon to see patients and their IV poles coming down the hallway to enjoy The Gathering Place, too.”