Dished Senior Living Dining Innovation Awards: Anthony Napolitano, Executive Chef, Edgehill, A Benchmark Senior Living Ccrc

Anthony Napolitano, Executive Chef at Edgehill, a Benchmark Senior Living CCRC, has been named a member of the DISHED Senior Living Dining Innovation Awards Class of 2026 by Senior Housing News.

As a Palate Pleaser Award winner, Senior Housing News recognized Napolitano for demonstrating outstanding creativity in menu development and bringing fresh ideas that keep dining experiences engaging and enjoyable.

Napolitano’s culinary philosophy is simple: Great food starts with quality ingredients and strong technnique. He prioritizes using fresh, seasonal, and locally sourced foods whenever possible, including herbs from the community’s rooftop gardens. This attention to detail results in meals that are not only flavorful, but also sustainable and nutritious.

Napolitano and the Edgehill culinary team embrace the essence of seasonal flavors. During a fall-themed luncheon, he curated a cohesive culinary experience featuring a creamy blue Hubbard squash and Bosc pear bisque, followed by a Honeycrisp apple crumb tart – dishes that felt intentional, timely, and thoughtfully composed.

Napolitano excels at creating immersive, themed dining moments that go beyond the expected. For Edgehill’s annual Chinese New Year celebration, he delivers a menu featuring Peking duck, egg rolls, shrimp tempura, and other traditional Chinese dishes, combining cultural inspiration with elevated technique and presentation. These events are meaningful for residents and also serve as defining experiences for prospective residents exploring the community.

One of Napolitano’s nominators told Senior Housing News, “His attention to detail, plating and overall culinary vision naturally lend themselves to storytelling by reinforcing the importance of dining as a central pillar of the resident experience.”

Senior Housing News recent sat down with Napolitano to learn what drew him to the senior housing & senior living industry, his perspective on culinary trends, his thoughts on the future of dining in senior living, and much more. To learn more about the DISHED Senior Living Dining Innovation Awards, visit https://dishedawards.seniorhousingnews.com/.

SHN: What inspired you to pursue a career in senior living dining, and what continues to motivate your work today?

Napolitano: I began my career as a dishwasher in high school, and over the decades, my path expanded into the corporate culinary world. When I felt ready for a change, senior living was entirely new to me — but it turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I’m truly grateful to be part of it. The past 20 years at Edgehill have been the most meaningful of my career because of the residents I have the privilege of serving each day.

My motivation is to keep our residents excited, engaged, and happy with their restaurant-style dining experience while helping them to live well. I also value the opportunity to work with, train, and mentor newer team members. The meaningful personal connections I make each day with residents and colleagues are something I wouldn’t trade for the world.

SHN: What are the top three trends shaping the future of dining in senior living right now?

Napolitano: First, dining is becoming increasingly aligned with overall wellness goals. Nutrient-dense ingredients, specialized diets, and food-as-medicine approaches are helping support cognitive health, heart health, and overall vitality, while still delivering flavor and enjoyment.

Another key trend is expanding menu variety to include global cuisines that bring excitement and discovery to the table. Creativity is at the heart of this approach. I work to keep our menus fresh and engaging by incorporating seasonal ingredients and new ideas, balancing familiar comfort foods with dishes that broaden the palate and spark curiosity.

Personalization is equally important. Listening is one of the most meaningful parts of my role at Edgehill. By truly understanding what our residents enjoy, we create menus that feel personal and relevant to them. Many of their favorite dishes blend comfort with classic culinary technique.

At the same time, I’m committed to giving residents a sense of ownership over their dining experience by offering flexibility, accommodating special requests, and ensuring each meal feels thoughtfully tailored to their tastes, needs, and high expectations.

SHN: What is the biggest barrier to innovation in senior living dining today, and how can organizations effectively overcome it?

Napolitano: Technology advances in the dining experience bring both opportunities and challenges. Residents in senior living communities have varying levels of comfort and familiarity with new technology. While our industry is evolving quickly and introducing innovations designed to make dining easier, these tools can sometimes feel unfamiliar and even overwhelming.

Providing the right resources is essential to overcoming these challenges. For instance, assisting residents, demonstrating how the tools work, and showing the benefits these tools bring help build confidence and ease in using technology.

Adequate staffing is also key. At Edgehill, we have a dedicated associate available to support residents with their technology needs. Ultimately, the most important priority is meeting residents where they are, ensuring they feel comfortable and happy with their overall experience.

SHN: In one word, how would you describe the future of dining in senior living – and why?

Napolitano: I would describe the future of dining in senior living as exciting, because it will continue to become more personalized, innovative, and experience-driven than ever before.

Unlike traditional restaurants, dining in senior living isn’t just about serving a great meal – it’s about creating an experience that supports well-being, sparks joy and encourages connection. This will only grow in importance. Food is deeply connected to personal history and has the power to stimulate the senses, making it especially meaningful in this setting. It is exciting to find new ways to incorporate feedback and shared stories from residents into our dining program, and it is even more enjoyable to see those memories come to life for them.

An increasing focus on a restaurant-style experience opens the door to greater creativity in both our dishes and the way we serve residents. This shift continues to elevate expectations for quality and service, and our team is already prioritizing these standards. It will be interesting to see how our industry continues to evolve in response to these rising expectations and it is exciting to be a part of it.

Finally, technology will keep opening new possibilities in how we design and deliver our dining programs, from how residents select and enjoy their meals to how our teams operate more efficiently in the kitchen. Over the longer term, I believe these innovations will support our residents and our teams in ways we can’t yet imagine.

SHN: How do you see technology transforming dining operations and the resident experience in the next few years?

Napolitano: Technology will enhance operational efficiency for teams while increasing convenience and comfort for residents. Advancements will offer more ways for residents to order and enjoy food and impact the dining setting.

Specifically, emerging innovations include smart dining tables equipped with integrated ordering systems and entertainment features, robot-assisted kitchens designed to improve efficiency and consistency, and 3D food printing to create customized textures – this is particularly beneficial for residents with swallowing difficulties.

We have gained valuable insight into what our residents want and need, and technology allows us to build on that knowledge to bring the dining experience to the next level. 

SHN: Reflecting on your career, if you could give yourself advice on your first day in senior living dining, what would it be and why?

Napolitano: My advice is to be ready for change and embrace it. Senior living dining has evolved to be incredibly different over these past 20 years – the next two decades will only bring accelerated change.

Our operation has advanced so drastically that it is largely different from where we started. Shifts to restaurant-style dining, expansion of dining venue and cuisine options and technology-driven inventory management all have arrived in our industry, and by embracing these changes, we provide the experience our residents want and deserve, while staying competitive in the senior living market. 

SHN: What qualities or leadership traits do you think DISHED Senior Living Dining Innovation Award winners must embody?

Napolitano: The qualities that I believe are essential are honesty and integrity with your coworkers, residents, and yourself. Also, learn to accept that you won’t always get the outcome you want but use those experiences as opportunities to learn and improve for the future – continuing to learn and sharpen your skills is important.

Be a leader who brings out the best in your team and offers constructive criticism only when it is truly necessary. Finally, lead by example every day, treat everyone with respect, and have passion for what you do — the rest will follow naturally.

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