Hello! Aloha! Ola! Hare Bol!

I was born in Brazil where I lived for thirty-five years and then moved to the United States ten years ago.

I learned to cook in my early years with my Italian grandparents who had a bakery where I learned about preparing breads, pizzas, sauces and vegetables.

My real experience in the kitchen started when I became a vegetarian and studied the art of combining spices with a variety of vegetables. Soon I opened my first restaurant named “Boas Ondas” where I featured an assortment of delicious vegetarian choices: veggie burgers, sandwiches, pizzas, breads and Brazilian desserts such as “Quindins” and “Cocada”.

My restaurant was on the beach with great surf and a beautiful view--perfect for inspiring meditation, yoga, and teaching people about vegetarianism. It’s a lifestyle that encourages living in harmony with nature and also embraces a global connection of showing respect, compassion, forgiveness and love to all the animals and human beings of the planet.

After a couple of years I began a spiritual quest to give my life deeper meaning. I found it in the Hindu philosophy that put Hare Krishna (God) at the center of my world. Not only did it answer all of my deeper questions about life, it also embraced my existing beliefs about vegetarianism.

As Hindus, we are complete vegetarians which means we cook with no meat, fish or eggs. We cook with love and offer the food to God (Krishna) and this food becomes “prasadan” (mercy of God). While my faith has fed my soul it has also taught the importance of feeding my body with nutritious, organic food.

Through this inspiration, I have learned about cooking with delicious new spices that promote healing in a variety of foods such as curries, vegetables, chutneys, pakoras, chapattis, puris, and halava. I furthered my knowledge about “healing cooking” when I traveled to India and lived in the Ashram (temple) where I learned about the “Ayurvedic” style of cooking for the mind, body and soul.

Excited to share my cuisine with others, I moved to the United States and began helping at the Miami Temple. We had a wonderful restaurant called “Govinda’s Buffet” where I worked for two years. I then moved to Tallahassee and helped friends prepare vegetarian meals at the Florida State University campus for three hundred students everyday!

I then opened my first restaurant in the U.S. called “Higher Taste”’ vegetarian café. We also had a nice bakery, called Vraja’s Kitchen, where my then-wife baked amazing breads and cookies.

After five years of running the café we decided to move to San Luis Obispo County to provide delicious vegetarian, vegan and raw food to the people of the Central Coast.

Currently I’m the chef and owner of “Govinda’s Garden” Vegetarian Vegan Experience. I provide a variety of prepared meals and delicacies at the local farmers markets as well as doing catering and cooking classes on request.

I live in Grover Beach with my son. When not cooking, I enjoy swimming, biking, yoga, surfing and watching the sunset. My motto is “Do what you like and like what you are doing”. I feel fortunate to be doing just that.

With Peace, Palaka