Chef Ian Shawn Palagye has always had one passion - to become a superior chef. Ian takes great delight in preparing meals that feed the body and bring great delight to anyone that partakes of his meal creations.

This passion led Ian to study at The Culinary Institute of America, where he excelled and had the honor of being one of the few students with 100% attendance.

After Ian graduated he began his culinary career working with world-renowned chef, Tony Clark, at his eponymous, extremely successful restaurant in Philadelphia. His foray into the world of fine dining was just beginning and he absorbed all that he was learning, carrying a journal and entering creative recipes in it.

At the age of 23 Ian became Executive sous chef at the Mansion in Voorhees. This is where his creativity was recognized. He created a variety of dishes and learned about the business of being a chef; how to run a kitchen, order food, and create budgets. During his tenure , Ian realized how important it is to have a harmonious “family” working together in the kitchen.

Then Ian decided to focus on the management area of being a chef. He secured a job as District Manager for Signanos Management. In this capacity, he traveled to many different areas and facilitated the Opening of new restaurants. He created menus for them, hired employees, balanced costs and tended to the many tasks that accompany such a venture. Chef Ian was very successful; but something was deeply missing in his life and he realized he had to get back into the kitchen and follow his original passion for cooking fine foods.

Ian went back into the kitchen by working at Roy’s, a very well known fine food establishment. He quickly leaned how to prepare the finest of fish dishes and work in a creative atmosphere.

Chef Ian’s next adventure took him to Opus 251 where he had the honor of working as a Sous Chef by the side of well-known chef, Anthony Bonnett. Ian will always be grateful for the incredible knowledge he was privy to under Chef Bonnett’s tutelage. Chef Ian was really learning how to prepare beautiful and well-received food.

After Opus 251, Chef Ian obtained a position as Executive Chef at The Woodcrest Country Club, where he delighted the members with his newfound skills. Chef Ian created theme nights and prepared the ethnic food that complimented these events. He realized how much he loved running a kitchen and hired many of the people he had worked with over the years, creating a very harmonious place to cook.

In his present job as Executive Chef at the wildly popular restaurant Blue Eyes, Chef Ian is finally experiencing the culmination of his rich and extensive background in preparing fine food. At Blue Eyes, his dream of preparing fine foods, never compromising quality and creating a harmonious atmosphere in the kitchen, all have come to fruition. Chef Ian is living his passion, using his skills and creativity to prepare meals that are always well received. Blue Eyes is a place that people rave about and Chef Ian could not be happier.