On Wednesday, June 21st Blue Zones Project Upper Napa Valley held a blue ribbon cutting announcing Café 1878 achieved designation as a Blue Zones Project Approved™ Restaurant. Café 1878 at St. Helena Hospital completed the validation process, which includes implementing several best practices to improve and support community well-being by helping to make healthy choices easier for patrons. The most notable actions include adding healthier menu options, optimizing printed menus to highlight healthy choices, and featuring artwork and educational materials that help diners learn about longevity behaviors.

“The process of becoming an approved restaurant has been fulfilling work,” said Chef Christopher Young. “It is rewarding to create new recipes and revisit tried and true dishes through a healthier lens. I am grateful for the ways we get to serve each other here at Café 1878 through food and well-being. It is my hope that everyone who enjoys a meal with us can see how much we care.”

Some key components of Café 1878’s designation include:

• Featuring over a dozen new Blue Zones Inspired dishes in the café
• Sourcing several fruits and/or vegetables from local farms or farmers’ markets (grown less than 400 miles away) during the growing season.

This month, Adventist Health St. Helena celebrated 145 years of service focused on transforming communities by inspiring health, wholeness, and hope.

Just as Blue Zones encourages longevity behaviors, so does the team of Café 1878. Three team members, Bertin Loyola, Horacio Arcila, and Luz Olguin, lovingly referred to as the “centenarian crew” by some hospital staff, have collectively served in the café together for more than 100 years. Director of Nutritional Services Erick Neuharth comments, “It may not have been one of the pledge items to become an approved restaurant to have that kind of staff longevity, but that level of commitment contributes to the success of the entire team and the ability to make sustainable changes.”

“Café 1878 takes great pride in the work they do, and their Blue Zones Project Approval is just another testament to their dedication to the Upper Napa Valley community,” said Blue Zones Project Upper Napa Valley, Organization Lead, Carolyn Delfino. “I am impressed by their commitment to adding healthy options to their dining experience and by the staff’s enthusiasm about the positive changes they have implemented. It was truly a team effort, and that really shines through in the details you see during your visit to the café.”

Brought to Upper Napa Valley through an innovative sponsorship by Adventist Health and Blue Zones, LLC, Blue Zones Project is a community-by-community well-being improvement initiative designed to enable community members to live longer, happier lives with lower rates of chronic diseases and a higher quality of life.