By Jered Rasmussen

Jack Barwick has brought his special brand of culinary acumen to Erickson for over two years now. But he is no rookie. Jack began his life of sauces and steam at the ripe age of 12. His Mother leased a kitchen from a bar owner on the Jersey Shore where he chopped and diced and began to fall in love with cuisine.

Jack cooked his way through college until he met a young chef who recognized his talent and started nudging him in the direction of culinary school. He attended Johnson and Wales Culinary school in Rhode Island where he was awarded the coveted Trustees Gold Cup For Culinary Excellence. Only one of these awards is given out every year with 6,000 students competing. He graduated summa cum laude in 1989.

Jack has worked in the active retirement industry for years now, starting with Life Care Retirement Services and then starting up Kisco retirement communities. He then returned to the restaurant business, but he says it left him hollow. “The magic just wasn’t there anymore,” he explains. Jack always admired Erickson’s business philosophy and commitment to service. “[Their] values drove me to Erickson,” he says. He waited for an opportunity to open up and when it did he jumped on it.

Jack recently accepted the position of director of dining services at one of Erickson’s newest communities, Fox Run in Novi, Michigan. He plans to take the following recipe (plus the hundreds of others he has accumulated) with him to Michigan and start setting everyone’s taste buds buzzing with delight.