Featured Chef: Thomas Bohne

Each month foodspring talks with chefs throughout the U.S. and around the world. The restaurants and chefs range from well-established and new favorites to rising stars, James Beard nominees and James Beard Award winners.

This month, we’re highlighting a different type of chef. Thomas Bohne graduated from Johnson & Wales culinary arts program in May of this year. While a culinary student, Bohne entered Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi’s “2010 Tuscany to You” recipe contest, which invites aspiring chefs and home cooks to submit their favorite Italian recipes via Tuscany Tonight. Frescobaldi is one of Italy’s leading family-owned wine companies. Bohne’s winning recipe beat out hundreds of entries from across the country.

Bohne’s path to the culinary arts has been an intriguing one. He spent 11 years in the U.S. Army, which included tours in Iraq and Kosovo. It was in the Army that Bohne discovered his passion for food and cooking. After his discharge, Bohne used the G.I. Bill and enrolled at Johnson & Wales in Denver, where he won the Apprentice Cuisenaire Award, the culinary arts program’s top baking and pastry distinction.

As the winner of Frescobaldi’s contest, Bohne was awarded a private dinner with Michelin-rated Italian chef Donatella Zampoli. Chef Zampoli deemed Bohne’s recipe, “one of the most original I have tasted.” Bohne shared his prize with fellow students at Johnson & Wales by organizing a lecture for Chef Zampoli in September as part of the program’s distinguished visiting-chef lecture series.—Vanessa Facenda

Recipes from Chef Bohne

Bohne shares his contest-winning recipe, Lobster and Shrimp with Vanilla Champagne Cream Sauce, along with his recipes for Rigatoni with Sausage and Arugula, and Balsamic Strawberries with Honey Vanilla Ricotta. Click on the image or recipe name below to try one out.

Lobster and Shrimp with Vanilla, Champagne (Prosecco), Cream Sauce

Rigatoni with Sausage and Arugula

Balsamic Strawberries with Honey Vanilla Ricotta

0 comments