Cristina Bowerman is an Italian chef, who holds a

Michelin star The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few restaurants in certain geographic ...

at Glass Hostaria in Rome. She originally studied foreign languages and law, and worked as a graphic designer. However, she trained at

Le Cordon Bleu Le Cordon Bleu (; French: " The Blue Ribbon"; LCB) is a French hospitality and culinary education institution, teaching haute cuisine. Its educational focuses are hospitality management, culinary arts, and gastronomy. The institution consists ...

and began working as a chef when she returned to Italy.

Biography

Cristina Bowerman was born in

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

, in southern Italy. She first trained in foreign languages and studied law, and then went on to work as a

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. Bowerman then studied culinary arts for two years at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

and

. She later said that the chef Egil Valentin had been her most significant teacher and praised the experience she gained at David Bull's restaurant, 5 Diamonds. When she returned to Italy in 2006, Bowerman began working at the Glass Hostaria restaurant in Rome. For the first three years, the restaurant struggled, as although Bowerman would bring in new dishes, the locals wouldn't visit during the week and then only order traditional dishes when they did on the weekend. In 2010, the restaurant was awarded a

, with Bowerman being the only woman to win one that year. After winning a Michelin star, she opened Romeo Chef & Baker in a former warehouse in

Testaccio Testaccio () is the 20th of Rome, Italy, identified by the initials R. XX, deriving its name from Monte Testaccio. It is located within the Municipio I. Its coat of arms depicts an amphora, referencing to the broken vessels that Monte Testaccio ...

, and then opened Giulietta Pizzeria next door to it. She continues to split her time between Rome and Austin. In 2017, she was one of 20 chefs to cook at the 32nd Chef's Tribute to Citymeals. Bowerman was one of the judges for the final of the 2018 S.Pellegrino Young Italian Chef competition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowerman, Cristina Living people Italian women chefs University of Texas at Austin alumni Italian emigrants to the United States Head chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants Year of birth missing (living people) People from Cerignola