Getting older shouldn’t stop us enjoying the finer things in life – which is why chef Kyle Wilson makes it his mission to bring them to his Cardiff care home residents.

Kyle is the head chef at Care UK’s Llys Herbert Care Home in Pontprennau, bringing his wealth of culinary expertise to the kitchen to create a care home dining experience like no other.

Now that experience has earned him a nomination for the Excellence in Catering Award – sponsored by Harlech Foodservice – at the 2024 Wales Care Awards.

“This is a nomination for my team,” he said. “You are only as good as your team and we all work really hard to provide the best food and dining experiences for our residents.”

But the standards Kyle works to are different to most. He started working in kitchens washing dishes as a teenager, and used to swap shifts with his pastry chef sister at weekends.

After working his way up through each station of the kitchen he went to London where he worked in Michelin-star and rosette-winning kitchens and even worked on food for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

He set up his own bar and grill and worked with gourmet pub chain Mitchell and Butler but as he prepared to become a father, he decided that a return to his homeland was the best move.

“I had to decide what was more important, being the best chef or the best dad,” said Kyle. “I chose being the best father I could be.

Moving back to Wales he initially took on a role with another care home before Care UK offered him the chance to do something different.

“People often see care home food as slop,” he said. “We don’t do that here. People may get older and need more help but they would still love to go out to a restaurant for a lovely meal, so we give them that experience here at Llys Herbert.”

New residents get anything they want as their first meal, with Kyle’s team treating every service like it was a top London restaurant.

“We do Tuesday night ‘fakeaways’ where we will take takeaway orders and make those foods for residents – we’ve done hand-battered fish suppers, obviously, but also Korean bao buns and Spanish and Indian foods.

“We do also try to introduce new flavours and foods because we are not only cooking for the residents here but also the future generations of residents who will have a different, more varied palette.

“And of course, we make everyone a showstopper cake on their birthday. We’ve done everything from three tier cakes to chocolate drip cakes, whatever they ask for.

“Our residents are not room numbers, they are people with names and we want them to have the best possible experience. Food can be a big part of that.

“The effort we put in, using fine dining techniques like spherising to create a gel around a liquid, ensure that should any of our kitchen staff ever move on and look to go further as chefs – as I did – they have the skills to do so.”

The Wales Care Awards will be hosted by BBC Sports presenter Jason Mohammed on Friday, October 18 at the Holland House Hotel in Cardiff.

Mario Kreft MBE, Chair of the Wales Care Awards, said:

“Our aim is to recognise the unstinting and often remarkable dedication of our unsung heroes and heroines on the front line of social care across Wales.

“The care sector is full of wonderful people because it’s not just a job, it’s a vocation – these are the people who really do have the X Factor.

“If you don’t recognise the people who do the caring you will never provide the standards that people need and never recognise the value of the people who need the care in society.

“We need to do all we can to raise the profile of the care sector workforce – they deserve to be lauded and applauded.

“It is a pleasure to honour the contribution of all the finalists. Each and every one of them should be very proud of their achievement.”