The years 2024-2025 brought two new chefs to Holly Creek, and with them, a renaissance for the community’s culinary scene. Chef Shelby Anderson joined the community a little over a year ago, and she was joined this past year by Chef Sandy Bingle to complete the community’s two-person Executive Chef duo. Now, swing by the Bistro to savor a slice of homemade lemon poppyseed bread or an orange scone. Stop by Centennials in the afternoon, and you’ll be greeted by scents from all over the world.
Meet Chef Shelby
Chef Shelby can’t remember a time when she wasn’t cooking while growing up, and in high school, she discovered a real love for “the pastry aspect of it.” To this day, she makes plenty of birthday cakes for her family.
“Everyone says it’s such a science, and that pastry’s hard. For me, that’s just job security,” she says with a laugh.
Shelby studied at the Art Institute, became an executive pastry chef at 20 and worked in food-related positions for 10 years before finding her home at Holly Creek, including as a cupcake baker for Happycakes and decorator at Whole Foods. For a while, she even served at an eating disorder facility which was, “a really eye opening experience. Desserts are like an indulgent thing, right? But when you have an eating disorder, it’s a really scary thing.” It was incredibly rewarding for her to be a part of the recovery process for so many, who were able to leave the facility healthier and better able to enjoy the flavorful side of life.
Shelby transitioned from another retirement community to work at Holly Creek. She coordinated with the team for a while to find the right person for co-executive Chef, and Chef Sandy has become her perfect other half.
“I don’t think we differentiate but rather divide and conquer. We both have our hands in everything, and we work together, I think, very well,” Shelby shared.
Meet Chef Sandy
Chef Sandy was born in Nebraska and began working in the food business when she was only fourteen years old. She switched from pursuing a business degree to culinary school in college and joined the American Culinary Federation, doing as many competitions as she could.
“A lot of master chefs from all over the world come in and critique your food and tell you how you can do better,” she explained. “I did it for four years. I enjoy working under pressure.”
Sandy collected a few gold, silver and bronze medals and a love for high-end fine dining in the process. She started as a restaurant chef before starting her own private in-home cheffing business. COVID interrupted her business plans, so once the restrictions lifted, she began working at universities and corporations. When she moved to Denver, Sandy took a position as executive chef at Denver University, and found her way from there to Holly Creek with twenty years of dining expertise. Her experience so far has been very positive.
“I really like the corporate chef life,” Sandy explained. “The administration and the operations side of being a corporate chef. While I do love still being in the kitchen, I think it’s the perfect balance of office time and kitchen time.”
Holly Creek’s Revitalized Culinary Experience
Since both chefs have joined the community, they have brought revitalization to both the Holly Creek’s food offerings and the dining team’s organization. While Shelby takes lead of the pastry offerings, the two work together to oversee the community’s restaurants.
Their approach to introducing new foods to their new community comes straight from their own families and backgrounds.
Homemade Pastry
“When I started, we didn’t do nearly enough from scratch. All our cakes came out of a box,” Chef Shelby explained. “I was able to find somebody within the kitchen who naturally gravitated toward pastry, and we started small. Instead of frozen chocolate chip cookie dough, I showed them how to make the cookies. From there we made oatmeal raisin and snickerdoodle. Then I realized that we should make some things for the pastry case at the bistro.”
Now, every Thursday residents visit the bistro for homemade cinnamon rolls, and every day they can find all kinds of cookies, scones of the week and three different kinds of quick breads. The exceptional part? Most of the recipes are from Sandy’s mom and Grandma, and anyone who samples her pumpkin chocolate chip or banana bread will agree that baking runs in the family.
Shelby’s hope is to start a fresh bread making and rotating dessert program as well.
“Bread is one of those things that they offer every night at Centennials, and I think that you should start your meal with something that is intentionally made,” she explained. “We just need to plan how we’re going to make it happen.”
Themed Dinners & Special Events
In the meantime, she’s busy coming up with creative offerings for everything from Veterans’ Day lunches (burnt caramel panna cotta) to staff appreciation parties (complete with froyo, breakfast quesadillas and a donut dipping station). Shelby also stays busy with specialty catered events, especially over the holidays. Plus, she’s supporting some creative meals that Sandy is adding from her own background.
“I have taken over the Monday themed dinners, Sunday brunches, and the Sunday bistro,” Sandy explained. “We also have a special Saturday dinner now as well.”
Sandy’s first ever themed dinner drew on her own Native American background.
“One of the passions I discovered while in culinary school is indigenous food (pre-colonization). I really enjoyed educating myself on those foods. It makes me feel closer to my own culture and family,” Sandy shared. “I wanted to make sure that I could introduce that part of me to the residents.”
Her indigenous menu included Three Sisters Soup, dandelion salad, venison, trout, delicata squash (vegetarian option) and a sunflower cookie for dessert. The meal was a perfect way to kick off her career at the community.
“I still get people talking to me about that,” she added. “We have a lot of residents who like to eat natural. Native American food is the most natural that you can get.”
Sandy has themed additional of her Monday night meals around other nearby holidays, and they have become incredibly popular, with around about 200 people attending weekly. Additional themes include “falling into fall,” Dia de Los Muertos, German, a night in Italy, Chinese and Southern Comfort.
The chefs’ goal is to strike a balance between creative and ethnic offerings and classic favorites. With Centennials, The Grill and The Bistro all offering a wide selection of variously rotating items, residents never lack for options.
Nutritious Meals for Various Dietary Needs
Another key balance is taste and nutrition. As Sandy explained, “when I build a dish, I always think about protein, starch and vegetables… I also personally give a lot of thought to texture. Of course, I try to use less butter or oil and salt, too.”
The chefs are careful to make sure that there are options for those with special food needs as well. “We make sure those people don’t feel alone,” Shelby explained. “Each of our venues always has something that can meet any kind of dietary need, like our heart healthy bowl at the Centennials.” The staff also takes special care to meet specific requests, putting items on the side as needed or saving them for later.
Organizationally, Chefs Sandy and Shelby have instituted a meal cycle for both Centennials and The Grill, with their best recipes rotating every 12 weeks. This provides space for creativity while making the daily prep process more manageable. Each rotation, they slightly adjust the recipes to include seasonal ingredients and better incorporate resident feedback. Residents can share their thoughts on the community’s culinary options via comment cards or at the monthly resident food committee meetings. Neighbors can also expand their own horizons with the chefs’ monthly teaching kitchen classes, featuring a superfood or themed food of the month.
Creating Community with Each Meal
Outside of their roles at Holly Creek, Sandy enjoys relaxing at home with her cats or attending music concerts, and Shelby regularly bakes with her nephews. But their real passion remains in the kitchen.
“From the community atmosphere and the environment—the welcomeness of it all—to the food that gets delivered to each customer’s plate, we want it to feel like home because it is home,” Sandy assured.
Shelby couldn’t agree more. “When someone lives at Holly Creek, they’re in for a treat,” she added. “We care. Our servers get to know our customers. We can anticipate and make their experience more personal and enjoyable. We know where they prefer to sit, how they like their food, and what they prefer to drink.”
It shows. In the words of countless residents and team members, “Holly Creek’s dining has never been this good.”
After all, food should never be afterthought. It’s an intentional part of being home.
