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Health & Fitness

Cooking, Passion and Time

Food is my life and my passion. I want to share that passion with you.

My name is Chef  Ivan Flowers.  I am the Executive Chef at Arnold Palmer’s restaurant in La Quinta, CA.  I wanted to write a blog that pulled back the curtain, so to speak, on what happens in a restaurant kitchen.  The passion, the fights, the failures and successes.  An insiders look at the mind and life of a Chef.  Why bending thyme?  For two reasons.  Firstly, because as a Chef, I believe my first priority is creating delicious food.  For me, what happens between my mind at first conception of a dish and the actual creation of the dish is bending thyme.  A magical spark that somehow makes it from my mind onto a plate.  To me, the process is bending thyme… Taking what is a stalk of green and bending it to see each individual leaf.  Each individual component.  And then taking those components, reconfiguring them and creating something entirely new.

Secondly, I believe that when one dines out in a restaurant and everything falls seamlessly into place, atmosphere, food, service and of course, with whom you are sharing the table, that is bending time.  It is a moment of suspended belief.  Similar to what happens when we go to a really great movie and get lost in the characters’ world.  For a couple of hours, all that is worrying or annoying us falls away and we are left in this wonderful new world.  That is what I strive for every night, for every guest.  I want to bend time.  I want them to get lost in the sight, sound, smell and taste.  And just for a little while, leave all else behind and relish the moment.  Do we always achieve this? No.  You will hear about those nights.  But many times we do and I look forward to sharing those triumphs too.

I also want to share cooking tips, recipes and pure, unabashed food love.  I look forward to sharing all of this with you and look forward to your questions and comments.

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