The need for this way of creating has been digging inside me for some time, whether to start or not.

Weighing within myself whether to write about something.

And when it doesn’t lead anywhere good but simply I write when it comes to me, like now,

it gives me freedom and that’s why I love this way of creative expression more and more.

Just moving from a dead point and beginning this journey gives me only beautiful and comforting moments.

It’s not easy, but they say repetition is the mother of knowledge…

And I still repeat, both in the kitchen and in life, and I never quite learn.

I cannot just erase some bad moments… the good I will surely remember, and the bad one should forget… sometimes I myself was bad, or I didn’t follow my own beat.

Damn, I’ll try to be better anyway.

Not every fall is necessarily bad. What matters is that you understand yourself where you could have done better,

because only then – and that’s the most important –

you prove to yourself that the spark and that beat in you still live and push you with dreams that are,

after all, only the reflection of what you yourself want to be.

Text and photo Crni Chef  All rights reserved.

Just like in fairy tales, I believed my dreams would come true someday. Believe it or not—they did. And the best part? I’m living them. How? I still don’t know.

If someone had told me: You’ll shoot. You’ll write. You’ll cook.

You’ll keep going. You’ll keep creating. I wouldn’t know what to say.

From where I stand now, I send this message to anyone who thinks:

“I can’t do it.” “I’m not enough.” Just keep going. You’ll last.

What matters is the beat you’re sailing on. What matters is—do you believe in it?

Sometimes, the energy for a positive shift isn’t far. It’s around us. In the sun. In the day. In the frame.

I know—it sounds like a fairy tale. But it’s not always like that.

Discouragement is real, every single day. And in the whole story, the most important thing is:

How badly do you want to reach your goal?

They say: “I don’t have time.” Okay—get up earlier. “I don’t have the gear, the setup.” I didn’t either.

As they say:

Some find excuses. Others find a way.

Today, I found mine. The sun is here. I found a way to catch it. From a strange angle. But it’s here—in my garden.

And in this day, it sparked something again.

A spark that keeps pushing me toward the goal.

Toward the dreams. The ones I still believe in.

Foto and text Crni Chef…all rights reserved.

“Food photography accompanies my personal reflections on creation, pause, and the spark that inspires.”

Some things we don’t see right away; it takes time for everything to come together spontaneously. We would all like everything, and right now, but deep down, when we scratch beneath the surface, we know and are aware (some less, some more) that it simply doesn’t work that way. Yes, exactly! That’s it! It doesn’t work, and I see it.

So now, in this moment, I look at things a little differently, from another angle. From where I am right now, it becomes clearer — the one that has always looked toward the sun, sometimes toward the stars and the moon.

Everyone eventually gets fed up, feels the need for a break… a rest from everything. A time to look at myself and reflect on what’s behind me. It wasn’t just sitting and doing nothing… there was creating, learning, teaching others… energy was shared everywhere.

Now that energy continues to be shared, but in a completely different format. Here, in my little online garden, where I can share and record the food photography I create, and recently also texts.

It simply started… I began filling the lines of this notebook because I decided to share how I see the world from my perspective. As I wrote before, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted… I just want to create in any way and keep that spark alive inside me, the one that pushes me forward — and others too, who may find themselves in these written words. Because in the end, that is the whole point of the story.

That’s what I wrote in the first sentence: some things we don’t see right away. That’s why the essence of my writing is to present myself in this light. Simply, and as a message to others: live, work, and create what makes you happy — what brings joy to you and to others.

As I wrote before, there will be all kinds of days. Why not write them down? Let them be here. In the hope that if not always to cheer ourselves up, then at least someone around us.

You may have noticed that there are no concrete recipes for now, because the original idea was writing with a few photos. Of course, I am a chef… in my own way… but in time there will be that kind of content too. Until then, I will keep publishing these texts spontaneously.

I’m not into the “plain recipe, photo, process, and that’s it.” I prefer it this way… it feels more honest and personal.

Enjoy,

Crni chef.

“Cooking and photography by Crni Chef. © All rights reserved.”

“A record of the time when we decided to grow.”

Which direction to take?   

Is this finally it?   

As a reminder of this time   

I decided to write this text…   

Let it remain written.   

Written in the spirit of expression, creation, imagination.   

Something that will always remind me, through the years,   

that we long ago set out on yet another journey.   

  A journey toward the freedom of creation. 

Not every day is the best,   

but each one can be…   

As much as you give — that is the something. 

Why?   

PERSEVERANCE.   

Small steps matter.  

That is why I have decided to keep walking in this direction.   

Slowly, because that is truly the best way.   

There is something within us that drives us,   

that pulse — the pulse that pushes you forward   

and quietly whispers:   

I GROW BECAUSE I WANT TO. 

The garden and its plants need watering.   

So I gladly return to this page of mine,   

to enrich it a little more — with a good photo,   

and with a good sentence…   

Photography,writing and cooking Crni chef

All rights reserved.

It comes slowly, but it’s here. Thin, almost invisible.

Patiently and quietly, it moves toward its release — toward connection.

It transforms,  frees itself, and becomes something more — a thread that connects.

That thread is what matters most. It carries persistence, faith, and effort.

Without it, nothing makes sense.

Always present — just waiting for the moment to unfold and grow stronger.

Emptiness is not the end. It’s space for growth.

Deep inside, the pulse is always the same.

 It’s the key, the force that gathers everything into one and sets it in motion.

 Not by force, not because it should, but because it endures. 

It’s here – to grow, because it wants to. And now it’s here – the whole.

 That something. 

Cooking ,photography and text by: Toma and Crni chef.

All rights reserved.

The right card? Is it or isn’t it – hard to tell. In life, we come across different signs and directions. It’s up to us whether we recognize them and make a move. A move that might, not necessarily, but hopefully, lead us toward a better way of living.

Maybe we’ll feel better if we take that path. A path where we can express ourselves – through writing, cooking, photography. That’s the path where I feel better than before.

Why? Because it gives me freedom. And that’s what I need most – freedom to create.

Tired of “you should…”

That’s why I started writing. Because I’ve had enough of limits. Enough of the constant mental drilling at empty, soulless jobs.

What should we do? We should let people be good at what they are. Let them create. Let them shape their own path. Without interference. Without the old saying – “five grannies, one clumsy child.”

Creativity isn’t a competition

To me, creative work doesn’t need to be accepted by society. What matters is that the person creating it – is happy. Whether someone likes it or not, that’s another story. It’s always easier to criticize than to create something yourself.

What remains

Everything passes: years, bad phases, good phases, sunny days, rainy days. What remains is our choice – how we record it. How we leave a mark. Any kind of mark.

A mark that captures the time when we simply wanted to be happy. Creative. And play that lucky card. The one that leads us to another path.

Crni Chef. All rights reserved.