Tom Cunanan

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

Bad Saint