{{short description|Filipino American chef}} {{Infobox chef <!-- for more information see :Template:Infobox chef/doc --> | name = Tom Cunanan | image = | caption = | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | style = | education = The Art Institute of Washington | restaurants = Bad Saint | prevrests = | television = | awards = 2019 James Beard Foundation Award, Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic | website = }} '''Tom Cunanan''' is a Filipino American chef in Washington, D.C.
==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.<ref name="starchefs">{{cite web |title=Chef Tom Cunanan of Bad Saint - Biography |url=https://www.starchefs.com/cook/chefs/bio/tom-cunanan |website=StarChefs |date=October 2018}}</ref> 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.<ref name="kojo">{{cite news |last1=Nnamdi |first1=Kojo |title=James Beard Award-Nominated Chefs Kwame Onwuachi And Tom Cunanan In Conversation |url=https://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2019-05-01/a-conversation-with-local-chefs-kwame-onwuachi-and-tom-cunanan |work=The Kojo Nnamdi Show |date=May 1, 2019}}</ref> After high school, he enrolled in the culinary school at The Art Institute of Washington.<ref name="starchefs"/>
==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.<ref name="eater2014">{{cite web |last1=Frederick |first1=Missy |title=Tom Cunanan to Lead the Kitchen at Upcoming Filipino Restaurant Bad Saint |url=https://dc.eater.com/2014/10/22/7039243/tom-cunan-to-lead-the-kitchen-at-upcoming-filipino-restaurant-bad |website=Eater DC |date=October 22, 2014}}</ref> 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.<ref name="edibledc">{{cite news |last1=Williams |first1=Erin |title=Memories on the Menu |url=http://edibledc.com/stories/memories-on-the-menu |work=Edible DC |issue=2017 Spring}}</ref>
In 2014, Cunanan met Filipino American restaurateurs Nick Pimentel and Genevieve Villamora, who were developing plans to open a Filipino restaurant.<ref name="eater2014"/> With the help of a Kickstarter campaign, the three opened Bad Saint in 2015 in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C.<ref name="edibledc"/><ref name="kickstarter">{{cite web |author1=Nick Pimentel |author2=Genevieve Villamora |title=Bad Saint - Filipino Food in Washington, DC |url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/842410820/bad-saint-filipino-food-in-washington-dc/description |website=Kickstarter}}</ref>
Bad Saint was recognized by ''Bon Appétit'' magazine as one of the best new restaurants in the country in 2016.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Knowlton |first1=Andrew |title=Bad Saint is the #2 Best New Restaurant in America 2016 |url=https://www.bonappetit.com/story/bad-saint-washington-dc |work=Bon Appétit |date=August 16, 2016}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wells |first1=Pete |title=Filipino Food Worth the Wait at Bad Saint in Washington |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/dining/bad-saint-dc-review.html |work=The New York Times |date=November 29, 2016}}</ref> Eater named it one of the 38 essential restaurants in America in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rojas |first1=Warren |title=Bad Saint Is One of the 38 Essential Restaurants in America |url=https://dc.eater.com/2017/11/8/16623672/bad-saint-bill-addison-38-best-restaurants-america |website=Eater DC |date=November 8, 2017}}</ref>
After being a finalist in 2017 and 2018, Cunanan won the 2019 James Beard Award for Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Spiegel |first1=Anna |title=Two DC Chefs Win Big at the 2019 James Beard Awards |url=https://washingtonian.com/2019/05/06/here-are-the-dc-winners-of-the-2019-james-beard-awards/ |work=Washingtonian Magazine |date=May 6, 2019}}</ref>
==External links== [http://www.badsaintdc.com/ Bad Saint]
== References == {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunanan, Tom}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Filipino emigrants to the United States Category:People from Hyattsville, Maryland Category:Chefs from Washington, D.C. Category:James Beard Foundation Award winners Category:Art Institute of Washington alumni