Tom Cunanan

Last updated
Tom Cunanan
Education The Art Institute of Washington
Culinary career

Tom Cunanan is a Filipino American chef in Washington, D.C.

Filipino Americans are Americans of Filipino descent. The term Filipino American is sometimes shortened to Fil-Ams or Pinoy. The earliest appearance of the term Pinoy, was in a 1926 issue of the Filipino Student Bulletin. Some Filipinos believe that the term Pinoy was coined by Filipinos who came to the United States to distinguish themselves from Filipinos living in the Philippines.

Washington, D.C. Capital of the United States

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington or D.C., is the capital of the United States. Founded after the American Revolution as the seat of government of the newly independent country, Washington was named after George Washington, the first President of the United States and a Founding Father. As the seat of the United States federal government and several international organizations, Washington is an important world political capital. The city is also one of the most visited cities in the world, with more than 20 million tourists annually.

Contents

Early life

Cunanan immigrated from the Philippines to the United States at the age of three, growing up in Hyattsville, Maryland as the sixth of seven children. [1] He went to Northwestern High School and through the Boys & Girls Club, he got a job as a dishwasher and bar-back at Corduroy, a restaurant on K Street in Washington, D.C. [2] After high school, he enrolled in the culinary school at The Art Institute of Washington. [1]

Philippines Republic in Southeast Asia

The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Situated in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of about 7,641 islands that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City, both part of Metro Manila. Bounded by the South China Sea on the west, the Philippine Sea on the east and the Celebes Sea on the southwest, the Philippines shares maritime borders with Taiwan to the north, Vietnam to the west, Palau to the east, and Malaysia and Indonesia to the south.

United States Federal republic in North America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

Hyattsville, Maryland City in Maryland

Hyattsville is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, and also a close, urban suburb of Washington, D.C. The population was 17,557 at the 2010 United States Census.

Culinary career

Cunanan gained experience in kitchens across D.C., including Jeffrey Buben's Vidalia, Nicholas Stefanelli's Bibiana, and Ardeo + Bardeo, where he was executive sous chef. [3] When Cunanan's mother was diagnosed with cancer in 2012, he worked with her to write down her recipes for Filipino cuisine, forming the basis for a catering business. [4]

Jeffrey Buben is a chef and restaurateur in Washington D.C.

Nicholas Stefanelli American chef

Nicholas Stefanelli is an American chef and restaurateur in Washington, D.C., known for the Michelin-starred Italian restaurant Masseria.

Filipino cuisine culinary traditions of the Philippines

Filipino cuisine is composed of the cuisines of more than a hundred distinct ethno-linguistic groups found throughout the Philippine archipelago. However, a majority of mainstream Filipino dishes that compose Filipino cuisine are from the cuisines of the Ilocano, Pangasinan, Kapampangan, Tagalog, Bicolano, Visayan, Chavacano and Maranao ethno-linguistic groups. The style of food making and the food associated with it have evolved over many centuries from their Austronesian origins to a mixed cuisine of Indian, Chinese, Spanish and American influences, in line with the major waves of influence that had enriched the cultures of the archipelago, as well as others adapted to indigenous ingredients and the local palate.

In 2014, Cunanan met Filipino American restaurateurs Nick Pimentel and Genevieve Villamora, who were developing plans to open a Filipino restaurant. [3] With the help of a Kickstarter campaign, the three opened Bad Saint in 2015 in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C. [4] [5]

Kickstarter crowdfunding platform

Kickstarter is an American public-benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity and merchandising. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". Kickstarter has reportedly received more than $4 billion in pledges from 15.5 million backers to fund 257,000 creative projects, such as films, music, stage shows, comics, journalism, video games, technology and food-related projects.

Columbia Heights (Washington, D.C.) Place in the United States

Columbia Heights is a neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C. Columbia Heights is known for its diversity, housing stock, major retailers, "[a] splendid panoramic view of downtown DC," and a thriving restaurant scene. In 2016, The Wall Street Journal recognized "Washington D.C.’s thriving Columbia Heights neighborhood."

Bad Saint was recognized by Bon Appétit magazine as one of the best new restaurants in the country in 2016. [6] Pete Wells of The New York Times gave the restaurant a three-star review, writing that "the food that Tom Cunanan and his cooks prepare under columns of wok smoke is richly compelling no matter how many prior run-ins you’ve had with Filipino food." [7] Eater named it one of the 38 essential restaurants in America in 2017. [8]

<i>Bon Appétit</i> American food/entertaining magazine

Bon Appétit is an American food and entertaining magazine that is published monthly by Condé Nast. It was started in 1956 and became a bimonthly magazine in December 1956 in Chicago. The magazine was acquired by M. Frank Jones in Kansas City, Missouri in 1965. Jones was owner, editor and publisher until 1970, when Bon Appétit was merged into the Pillsbury Company, who sold it to Knapp Communications, publishers of Architectural Digest, four years later. Condé Nast Publications, the current owners, purchased Knapp Communications in 1993. Its sister publication was Gourmet, before the latter was discontinued in October 2009. The magazine's headquarters, which had been in Los Angeles, CA, were moved to New York City in early 2011.

Pete Wells is the restaurant critic for The New York Times. He has held the position since November 2011, succeeding Sam Sifton.

<i>The New York Times</i> Daily broadsheet newspaper based in New York City

The New York Times is an American newspaper based in New York City with worldwide influence and readership. Founded in 1851, the paper has won 127 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper. The Times is ranked 17th in the world by circulation and 2nd in the U.S.

After being a finalist in 2017 and 2018, Cunanan won the 2019 James Beard Award for Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic. [9]

Bad Saint

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References

  1. 1 2 "Chef Tom Cunanan of Bad Saint - Biography". StarChefs. October 2018.
  2. ↑ Nnamdi, Kojo (May 1, 2019). "James Beard Award-Nominated Chefs Kwame Onwuachi And Tom Cunanan In Conversation". The Kojo Nnamdi Show.
  3. 1 2 Frederick, Missy (October 22, 2014). "Tom Cunanan to Lead the Kitchen at Upcoming Filipino Restaurant Bad Saint". Eater DC.
  4. 1 2 Williams, Erin. "Memories on the Menu". Edible DC (2017 Spring).
  5. ↑ Nick Pimentel; Genevieve Villamora. "Bad Saint - Filipino Food in Washington, DC". Kickstarter.
  6. ↑ Knowlton, Andrew (August 16, 2016). "Bad Saint is the #2 Best New Restaurant in America 2016". Bon Appétit.
  7. ↑ Wells, Pete (November 29, 2016). "Filipino Food Worth the Wait at Bad Saint in Washington". The New York Times.
  8. ↑ Rojas, Warren (November 8, 2017). "Bad Saint Is One of the 38 Essential Restaurants in America". Eater DC.
  9. ↑ Spiegel, Anna (May 6, 2019). "Two DC Chefs Win Big at the 2019 James Beard Awards". Washingtonian Magazine.
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