Hollerbach’s chief operating officer Chris Cremen notes, with not a small amount of pride, that this popular Sanford restaurant is often full of loud music and loud people, yet when Dennis Dulniak approached him about joining the small but growing roster of Central Florida restaurants catering to people with dementia and their caregivers, “it was an easy ‘yes,'” he says.
“It’s unfortunate, but it seems like everyone has a connection to someone with dementia. So, we want to share awareness and create a fun, happy, safe atmosphere for people to enjoy the gemütlichkeit experience we try and share with everyone.”
Dulniak, whose experience caring for his wife, Nancy, led him to co-found Central Florida Dementia-Friendly Dining , ( centralfloridadementia-friendlydining.com a nonprofit that partners with local restaurants to help create spaces where patients and their caregivers can make memories, “…to give them the respect they deserve and make them feel normal again, because having dementia is not a normal feeling.”
Dementia-Friendly Dining co-founder Toni Gitles trains Hollerbach’s staff and UCF service-learning students. (Courtesy Dennis Dulniak)He says there is ample space at Hollerbach’s to create an atmosphere conducive to hosting people with dementia.
“Taking a person with dementia out in public can be very challenging, and what we look for are restaurants that have a quieter atmosphere,” says Dulniak.
Though Cremen is right, Hollerbach’s is hardly known for its staid atmosphere, “they have a side area in their main-floor dining room that’s away from the traffic, a place where they can turn off the music. They can arrange seating so that a person with dementia will have their back to the activity,” Dulniak noted. “And the staff is exceptionally excited to provide the experience.”
In fact, Dulniak goes to all the restaurants on the DFD list to train staffers in giving patients the proper care.
“They were very receptive,” he says of the Hollerbach’s team.
The hours they’ll be hosting, from 3-5 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, is a slower time for the restaurant.
“There aren’t as many people here and we can arrange optimal conditions for these people to enjoy a meal with their caregivers,” says Cremen, who in the past has served dementia patients as both a bartender and server. Staffers will be wearing buttons letting guests know that the dementia-friendly dining space is available.
Dementia-Friendly Dining, a caregiver’s labor of love, returns to Orlando restaurants
“The procedure is that they should notify us that they are here for dementia-friendly dining,” Cremen explains. “We certainly don’t want to call anyone out in a way that makes them uncomfortable. Once notified, the staff is trained to get them where they need to be well taken care of and enjoy their meal.”
The buttons, in fact, have already sparked conversations with other guests.
“The response has been amazing. Our No. 1 goal is to raise awareness. One even got very emotional about it, having lost their dad to the disease not long ago. It’s nice that we’re making these connections.”
Hollerbach’s joins four other Dementia-Friendly Dining participants in Seminole County. These are:
Pepe’s Cantina: 3100 Alafaya Trail in Oviedo. DFD Hours: 2-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday
Perkins Restaurant & Bakery: 701 E. SR 434 in Winter Springs. DFD Hours: 2 – 5 p.m. Tuesday
Seminole BBQ: 640 S. County Road 419 in Chuluota. DFD Hours: 2-5 p.m.Tuesday-Thursday
The Town House Restaurant: 139 N. Central Ave. in Oviedo. DFD Hours: 2-5 p.m. Wednesday
Do you own, work for or know a Central Florida restaurant that would be a great addition to the Dementia-Friendly Dining roster? If so, email Dennis Dulniak at cfldfd01@gmail.com .
Find me on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie . Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com , For more foodie fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group .
Most Popular
Comments / 0