Daily Inspiration: Meet Glenn Lopate

Today we’d like to introduce you to Glenn Lopate.

Hi Glenn, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
With a lifelong passion for cooking and after 30 years of being a neurologist, I decided that I needed a change of pace. I decided to retire early from Washington University, but worked part-time for the next 1 1/2 years. I enrolled in a 2-year program in the Culinary Arts and received my certificate in 2021. I also wanted to further my knowledge of nutrition and began courses offered by Tulane University, and obtained certification as a Culinary Medicine Specialist in 2019. I moved to Longmont Colorado in 2022 and soon thereafter launched my business, The Doctors Cuisine. I also started volunteering at the OUR Center kitchen, helping to prepare meals for those in need. I began advertising as a personal chef and have been enjoying my retirement career for the last 3 years. I have hosted several dinner parties, cooked as a personal chef for several clients and have catered for retreats at the YMCA near Rocky Mountain National Park and at the Rocky Mountain Village near Empire, CO. I truly love what I’m doing, helping people eat delicious, healthy food at a reasonable price.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Overall, I have been extremely pleased with my retirement career. I had to learn how to make a webpage and use social media, but these were minor issues. My wife, who is also a small business owner, helped tremendously. Since this is my retirement career, I am purposefully only working part time as I want to enjoy the benefits of retirement as well. I usually have only one client at a time and space out dinner parties and catering events throughout the year. I have had tremendous support from my wife, OUR Center and from new friends in Longmont.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
While I don’t have a degree in nutrition, my main focus is in preparing healthy meals, particularly for those with a medical need for a specialized diet. During my years as a neurologist, I saw first-hand that far too many people don’t eat a healthy diet, often due to lack of understanding of the benefits. My main focus is on the Mediterranean diet and its offshoots, the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet and the MIND (Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet. All have shown significant benefits to help improve chronic cardiovascular and cognitive health.

My most rewarding experiences have been catering retreats for charitable organizations that help groups of people with neurologic disease. I have prepared meals for 4 day retreats at the YMCA near Rocky Mountain National Park for FNDcourage, an organization that helps people with functional neurologic disorder. I have also prepared meals for 5 day retreats at Rocky Mountain Village for the charity LoveYourBrain, an organization that helps clients with traumatic brain injury. I am so grateful to have found a niche supplying healthy foods for people with neurologic disease, allowing my career to come full circle, first treating people with neurologic disease and now cooking for people with neurologic disease.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Besides managing my small business, when I moved to Longmont, Colorado I began volunteering at OUR Center, a kitchen and food bank for that “helps people move towards self-sufficiency by unifying community resources.” I volunteer in the kitchen 2 days a week, helping to make and serve meals for about 100 people a day. Armando Escobar is the head chef and kitchen coordinator and has been instrumental in helping me acquire the skills necessary to be a personal chef. I am grateful to have found such a wonderful person.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thedoctorscuisine.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089367000900