It has been four years since Chef Denis Simon shared the remarkable story of his culinary career in The Sterling Court Reporter. For those who have joined the Sterling Court community since then, his story began in Alsace-Lorraine, France, where a love of cooking developed alongside his mother in the kitchen. An apprenticeship started at age 14, followed by training in Michelin-starred restaurants in France and a career that eventually brought him to California.

Today, after 16 years at Sterling Court, Chef Denis remains as passionate about food and the residents he serves as ever. But quite a bit has changed since that first interview.

His role now involves even more time overseeing the operation with considerable planning taking place long before a meal reaches the table. Menus are now mapped out six to seven weeks in advance, in part because purchasing food has become far more complicated. Ingredients that were once readily available through a large distributor may now require orders from several different sources. Some products that don’t sell in sufficient quantities are no longer routinely stocked by large suppliers, which means Chef Denis may turn to specialty purveyors or even local stores to find exactly what is needed.

“Food is something very important,” says Chef Denis. “Quantity and quality matter.”

Special requests from residents add another dimension. A request for something that seems simple or a resident may see in a local grocery store can become surprisingly complicated when a commercial supplier requires purchasing it in a large quantity. All of this requires considerably more planning behind the scenes, but residents remain at the center of every decision. Chef Denis encourages feedback and, more importantly, wants to hear about a concern when something can still be done about it. “If something is not to your liking, we can fix it right at that moment,” he says. “Let the server know right away. It’s important.”

A CONTINUED FOCUS ON HEALTH

Healthy cooking was important to Chef Denis when his story was first shared four years ago, and it remains so today. His own perspective on health has become even more personal following major heart surgery in 2023. Salt remains absent from his personal cooking and greens and protein have become an increased focus in Sterling Court’s menus. Away from the kitchen, time outdoors is important too. Chef Denis keeps busy working in his garden, growing tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, and more, with even potatoes taking their turn during the winter.

Travel also continues to be part of his life. A recent return to his native Alsace-Lorraine provided time with his brother, and other travels have included Switzerland and Barcelona.

Perhaps the biggest personal change since the last interview has been the arrival of another granddaughter. Cooking for his family remains a pleasure, but time with his grandchildren may be even better. Even the worst day can quickly be forgotten, he says, when the grandchildren are around.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE TEAM

Ask Chef Denis about the success of Sterling Court’s dining program, and the conversation quickly shifts away from him. “It’s not only me,” he says. “Without my team, we cannot make it.” That team extends well beyond the cooks in the kitchen to the servers and to housekeeping, maintenance, and others throughout Sterling Court. Many have worked together for years, creating a continuity that Chef Denis values tremendously. He also reminds his staff to consider the experience from the residents’ perspective: if Sterling Court were your home, how would you want to be treated?

It is a philosophy that has remained remarkably consistent throughout Chef Denis’s years at Sterling Court. In his original interview, he spoke about going home at night knowing that if a resident had been having a bad day, perhaps something he had done had made that day a little better for them. Four years later, despite changes in the food industry and changes in his own life, that commitment hasn’t changed at all.

Chef Denis’s original interview, including the story of his childhood in France, Michelin-starred restaurant training, and journey to Sterling Court, can be found on the new Blog page.

Edna Steele has lived in the East Bay, South Bay, North Bay, and Bay Area Peninsula! “I am a native!” she confirms.

For the last 30 years, Edna lived in the Burlingame hills, where she owned a home, raised three children, had a career she loved, and did most of it all on her own. Edna is a very cool lady. Now she’s living here and fitting right in.

“I don’t like to cook, and I don’t like to eat by myself,” laughs Edna. “I love it here!”

Edna was born in Oakland, but when she was 12, her family moved to Los Altos. “They had the Stanford Achievement Tests, and I did poorly. So, my mother worked with me all summer long.” Edna tested again and was placed in her grade level.

Her family understands hard work. Edna’s mother got a job and left high school in her freshman year, and her dad ran away from home at 16 to work on the Panama Canal. Later, he became a mechanical engineer.

Their Los Altos home had over 12 acres of apricot trees and a smaller orchard with peaches, almonds, and walnuts. They also had a calf that she and her brother taught to play chase! She loved living there, but it was also eye-opening. The property next door hired migrant workers to pick and cut the apricots. “As long as the neighbor had fruit, they stayed. They slept in tents and there was no schooling for the kids,” says Edna. “I was very humbled by their living conditions.”

Her family’s next move was to Newark, New Jersey, but they quickly came home to California and lived in Millbrae, where Edna attended Burlingame High School. Right after graduation, Edna married her high school sweetheart. Three years later, they welcomed their daughter Penny, and two years after that, their son Tim. Then, after eight years of marriage, Edna found herself on her own. How did Edna cope? “I rolled up my sleeves and faced it,” she says.

They owned a duplex, so luckily the tenant’s rent covered the mortgage. But to cover everything else, Edna found childcare and went to work as an accountant, using bookkeeping skills she learned in high school. “For lunch every day, I had a candy bar because that’s all I could afford,” she says. “Over a couple of years, I got back on my feet.”

Ten years later, Edna married again and had a second daughter, but the marriage didn’t work out. Edna, no doubt rolled up her sleeves again. This time she bought a Burlingame home up near Skyline. “I loved living in my home in the trees,” says Edna. She also had a fulfilling career as an accounting supervisor for the California Teachers Association and traveled to union chapters throughout the large organization. She retired after over 20 years.

Edna filled the years after retirement with hobbies and took quilting classes. She also has many friends she visits, and she still volunteers with several organizations close to her heart.

When it was time to leave her “home in the trees,” Edna’s grandson visited from Santa Barbara, and together they looked at local places, including Sterling Court. “This was by far the best place to live,” says Edna. “The other places were dead silent, and you had to buy into them!” Another plus was that several friends from the Burlingame Music Club, an organization where Edna is a board member, already live here.

Edna arrived in April with 28 boxes and has settled in nicely. “It’s such a neat place to be!” she says. “The staff is so helpful. If I need anything, I call downstairs and someone helps.”

The other residents are wonderful too. “We’re all at the same time of life,” says Edna. “For years I was eating by myself. Now, every night, I go down to dinner and sit with people I know or where is open. There is always company.”

Not only is Akira Watanabe a proud husband, grateful father, and skilled pharmacist, he is also very content with the life he and his family have built.

Akira and his wife, June, came to Sterling Court about a year and a half ago. “The people here are very nice,” says Akira. “Plus, the food is good and plentiful. I gained 10 pounds!”

That may explain his schedule. Every morning, Akira works out in the gym, first with weights and then by walking 2,000 steps on the treadmill. At night, he exercises for 30 minutes before bed. He also keeps his mind sharp by playing bridge at least three times a week, both with other Sterling Court residents and online.

Akira’s parents met after his father came to San Francisco from Japan in the 1930s to work and send money back home. The couple settled in Japantown, where Akira was born in 1934. “It was really nice,” says Akira about growing up there. “My friends were all great and we grew up together.” His father worked as a bank teller and his mother as a housewife.

Akira was 7 years old when the U.S. entered World War II. Like many Japanese Americans in the area, he and his family were sent to a temporary detention camp at the Tanforan Racetrack in San Bruno, where Akira’s sister was born. “We were living in the horse stalls, but there was a hospital there,” says Akira. After three months, they were sent by train to the permanent camp in Topaz, Utah.

“Japanese people are pretty hearty,” says Akira. “I did very well in the camp.” The dust storms were terrible, he says, but the hardest part was that his father was sent to a different camp. They reunited in 1945 at the end of the war.

“Fortunately, my grandfather held onto our property in San Francisco,” says Akira. His savvy grandfather had arrived in San Francisco shortly before the 1906 earthquake and, luckily, left the family property in the care of a neighbor. After the war, the family started a grocery store.

After high school, Akira attended UC Berkeley and earned his Pharmacy degree from UCSF. He then spent three years in the Army, training at Fort Ord before being stationed in Fort Lewis in Washington, then to Whittier, Alaska, where he ran a medical clinic with a doctor and dentist.

After returning to California, Akira worked as a pharmacist at Southern Pacific Hospital. Mutual friends introduced him to June, a trained dancer who taught at Mills College. They married and welcomed three children, eventually settling in Marin County just down the street from Skywalker Ranch. Akira was the pharmacist at Lucky’s in Richmond, while June started the June Watanabe Dance Company.

“She’s the one you should be interviewing,” says Akira proudly of his wife. June trained at the L.A. Conservatory of Music and Arts, danced in the film The King and I at age 16 and served on the faculty of several colleges before retiring as Professor Emerita.

The family enjoyed camping, traveling through Europe, and taking a cruise in China. At one point, June received a grant to go to Japan for six months.

Their three children are all successful. Brett is a financial advisor in New York, Whitney has a master’s degree and teaches at a local college, and Colin is a cardiologist in Los Angeles. They also have five grandchildren. “They’re all doing very well!” says Akira.

Whitney suggested that Akira and June move to Sterling Court. “Our daughter lives in San Carlos and wanted us closer,” says Akira. They settled well into their new life. Then, about a year ago, June needed to move to a nearby memory clinic. Akira visits her often.

Akira describes the life he and his family have created as “the American Dream.” When asked if he has any life philosophies, Akira laughs and says, “Work hard!” Obviously, his disciplined life is paying off!

To say Kathy and Fred Furrer are locals is an understatement. Fred grew up just a couple of blocks from Sterling Court in a house his grandfather built in 1906. After they married, Kathy and Fred moved into a home just a block from that. In March, they made the move to Sterling Court.

“Everything is so new to us,” says Kathy. “This is the first time we’ve moved in 66 years!”

Talking with Kathy and Fred is great fun. Fred states the facts, Kathy adds the details, and their affection for one another is clear.

Kathy was born in Flasher, North Dakota, in her grandmother’s house. Her grandmother was the town’s midwife and nurse to the local doctor. When Kathy was 7, her family moved west, eventually settling in Tacoma, Washington. (Kathy is from a big family – she has five sisters and one brother!) After high school, she joined her older sister in Burlingame and went to work at Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, now known as 3M.

Meanwhile, Fred attended Serra High School before studying business and accounting at the University of San Francisco. After graduation in 1954, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. “I did basic training at Fort Ord and then was shipped off to Germany and attached to the heavy artillery division,” says Fred. Once he came back home, he worked at an accounting firm. “But I decided I didn’t want to be a bean counter,” says Fred. He began a new career that took him from the chemical industry to environmental consulting. His firm even sent him to Harvard Business School.

Around the time Fred got out of the Army, mutual friends arranged a blind date between Fred and Kathy. A year and a half later they were married and moved into their San Mateo home. Soon they welcomed two daughters, Michelle, who now lives in Maui and works for Microsoft, and Cheryl, a former neonatal nurse at Stanford who now splits her time between Washington and the house Fred’s grandfather built. Plus, they have three beloved grandchildren – two girls and a boy.

Once their daughters were grown, Kathy returned to work. One of her favorite jobs was at a dental office whose patients included members of the San Francisco 49ers during the team’s Super Bowl years. She still laughs about giving star cornerback Eric Wright a ride in her white 1965 Mustang after he admired the car.

Retirement brought many happy years and plenty of hobbies. Both enjoyed golf, and each managed to score a hole-in-one. Kathy has also spent years crocheting, knitting, decorating cakes, and pursuing other creative projects.

The idea of moving to Sterling Court came from their daughters. After a few falls, Michelle and Cheryl encouraged their parents to explore senior living. Although Kathy and Fred had known about Sterling Court for years, they had never been inside. After a tour, they were impressed.

In March, they moved in and of course brought along Holly, their poodle-bichon frise rescue dog. “We’ve had her for 10 years and she’s still like a puppy,” says Kathy. “She loves the people here.” Holly’s not the only one! “The people who work here are so nice,” says Kathy.

So, while still feeling a little new, Kathy and Fred are adjusting and enjoying the experience. They appreciate the friendly staff, the responsive maintenance team, and the delicious meals prepared for them each day.

They’re also learning about the classes and activities available, and getting ready to dive in. Most of all, they’re happy to remain in the neighborhood they’ve called home for decades while beginning an exciting new chapter at Sterling Court.

Diane Bryant’s path to Sterling Court has been shaped by creativity, family, politics, and a lifelong passion for bringing people together. Originally from outside Detroit, Michigan, Diane grew up in a family filled with artistic talent and imagination. Initially, Diane envisioned a future in law and attended Michigan State University as a pre-law student. However, during that era, professional fields like law were not always welcoming to women, and she eventually found herself drawn in a different direction. Encouraged by a family friend who worked in advertising for General Motors, Diane moved to Los Angeles to attend the renowned ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, where she studied painting and design. “The school was very professional,” she says. “When you graduated, you were ready to work.”

While there, Diane met her future husband, also a designer. The two married in 1969 and eventually built both a family and a business together. “We were a true partnership in every shape,” Diane says warmly. After the birth of her two sons, Diane and her husband launched their own design firm on Wilshire Boulevard. Together, they built a successful business working with major clients across the U.S. Diane specialized in information, organization, writing, and color while her husband focused on illustration and design. “Everything about me is color,” she says. “Beige does not live in my house.” Even today, her vibrant personality shines through in colorful clothing, jewelry, and art.

Politics had also long been part of Diane’s life. Her involvement began at just eight years old through an uncle in Michigan. After moving to Los Angeles, Diane initially hesitated to start over politically, but her husband encouraged her to volunteer for a local campaign. That decision led to a remarkable career working on campaigns, creating advertising and event materials, writing press releases, and eventually serving as Assistant Press Officer for Los Angeles City Attorney Burt Pines. Later, she was recruited to run the Los Angeles office for California’s State Treasurer. In 1984, she was hired to be in charge of the logo and all printed materials for the Democratic Convention here in San Francisco.

Her creative passions continue at Sterling Court. Diane enjoys jewelry making, painting, and working with natural stones. She even has an Etsy shop featuring her handmade jewelry designs. “I love creating pieces specifically for the person who will wear them,” she explains.

Family remains at the center of Diane’s life. One son lives in Hillsborough with his family, while the other resides in Washington, D.C. Both have successful careers, and Diane beams with pride when speaking about her four grandchildren.

Diane moved to Sterling Court about three and a half years ago. Downsizing dramatically was an adjustment, but one she handled with grace. “I thought it would be hard to adjust, but I adapted well,” she says. Her beloved Cockapoo, Amy, now 10 years old, has been a comforting companion through every chapter.

When asked what she appreciates most about Sterling Court, Diane’s answer comes quickly. “The staff is wonderful. Within a week, everyone called me by my name. They go out of their way to be helpful.” She also praises the residents, describing them as “interesting, welcoming, warm people who want to share their lives with you.”