Glen Cove Hospital Chef Wins Culinary Award

What started as a passion transformed into a profession for Glen Cove Hospital's Assistant Director of Nutrition and Food Service, Lyndon Espiritu, culminating in his receiving the coveted Premier Healthcare Alliance 2010 Culinary Creations Award.

"It's therapeutic," Espiritu said of his passion-turned-profession. "It gives you peace of mind. You can create something that's your own. It's yours and no one can take it away. Getting positive feedback from the patients and staff is very rewarding."

Espiritu, whose favorite thing to eat is the Filipino dish Chicken Adobo, would observe his mother as a child in the kitchen at home preparing food, which led him to start cooking at a very young age.

"I used to watch my mother cook.  She cooked for five children. We are Filipino so that's the kind of food she would cook," he said.

That family influence and love of cooking led him to win the Premier Healthcare Alliance's 2010 Culinary Creations Award, outperforming more than 300 of his peers at Premier's annual food service forum. The award was presented at a conference in Washington, D.C., in June.

"The award is the most prestigious award," Espiritu said. "I was astounded. I was shocked. My boss and I enter the contest every year. He was named one of the five finalists last year. For me to win the whole entire event was very overwhelming."

The dish that won Espiritu the title was Peruvian Pork Tenderloin with Avocado Chili Sauce.

"I chose pork tenderloin, which is the most tender part of pork," he said. "I chose that meat because you can't go wrong with it, it will stay moist and succulent. The avocado chili sauce gives it more flavor."

Espiritu got his first cooking job when he was just 15 years old.

"My brother is the senior manager at Pancho's Catina and co-owner of of Duke Falcons Global Grill in Long Beach. The first thing I cooked was the taco beef at Pancho's. I've been cooking ever since," Espiritu said.

Despite his passion for cooking, Espiritu did not always know that was what he would do in life.

"I started studying fashion design in college," he said. "My father got me a job in nutrition and food service while I was in college. I became a manager. I changed my major to hotel and restaurant administration."

The chef comes up with his recipes from random visions, thoughts, mental images and scents, which immediately need to come to fruition as a test to see if he approves of its creation.

"A lot of times I put in my mind what I want to taste. When I do that I need to have it that night. I buy things to create on my own and it comes out great. Sometimes it's what I smell that inspires me," he said.

With the accolades and persistence to be the best chef he could be, the desire to prepare food he developed in his youth has never left him.

"Cooking is something I do for my own delight," he said.  "I passionately love cooking."