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DOMINIQUE FILONI
Savona | Philadelphia, PA
Biography
Born and raised in St. Tropez, France, Dominique Filoni saw cooking
and eating as a family affair. Activities often revolved around
food, whether it was helping his grandmother prepare one of her
legendary culinary feasts, foraging for wild mushrooms and leeks
with his uncle, tending to the family garden, or searching for snails
with his mother. By the time Filoni was 16, he had already graduated
with honors from the intensive culinary program at the Lycee Hotelier
Institute in Hyeres, France.
For five years, Filoni cooked at several well-regarded restaurants
in the French Alps, the French Riviera and Paris. During this time,
Filoni learned the importance of using the freshest ingredients,
and the necessity of incorporating these ingredients on a seasonal
basis into menu development. As he rose through the ranks, he began
to understand the subtle hand necessary to coax maximum flavor from
dishes by letting flavors speak for themselves.
Always eager to expand his knowledge and take on new culinary challenges,
Filoni moved to the United States in 1995 to accept the position
of Chef de Cuisine at Tierra restaurant in Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania.
In 1997, the owners of the former Tierra restaurant recognized
Filoni’s extraordinary talent and promoted him to Chef de
Cuisine at the subsequently named Savona. Keeping in line with his
simple philosophy of utilizing only the best ingredients available,
Filoni blended his superb French discipline with his love for Italian
spontaneity. The result of this combination developed into his own
innovative signature style of cooking. Filoni’s dedication
to Savona was soon rewarded when he became one of the restaurant’s
partners and executive chef in 2000.
Just three years later, in 2003, Filoni became inducted into the
Maitres Cuisiniers de France, making him the youngest French Master
Chef in the United States. Filoni has been featured on the TV Food
Network, in Wine Spectator, Bon Appetit, Town and Country and Culinary
Trends, among others. He resides in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania with
his wife, Sabine, and daughter, Bianca.
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