Steve Bonasia
Madison, MS
Steve Bonasia is a Director of Culinary Services and Corporate Chef within the highly competitive world of Corporate Research and Development.
In 2004, he left the world of restaurant line cooking and catering and now spends his time researching what and how people eat, working to develop exciting new products for many of the nation's leading restaurant chains.
His passion for cooking and true love of eating, combined with his constant whimsical attitude inspired him to write his newest book, "Dominic and the Secret Ingredient." His passion and curiosity about food wasn't the only inspiration for this book, rather it was his own struggles as a child with anxiety that made him want to share his story to reach out to children and adults who may have be dealing with the same issue. Surrounded by great cooks while growing up in Italian family, he never missed an opportunity to learn about new ingredients and the care it took to make dishes and meals turn out to be something special. It was his cooking that gave him a confidence level he needed to overcome this struggle with anxiety.
Bonasia was born in New Jersey, where he lived for over 20 years. After earning a degree in Food and Nutrition with a minor in Journalism from Montclair State University, he then went on the acclaimed International Culinary Center, formerly the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan. He worked a brief externship at Tribeca's Montrachet Restaurant and throughout restaurants and catering establishments in New Jersey before taking on a catering company of his own until 2004.
Steve Bonasia has done cooking demonstrations and interviews on Good Day Houston, Fox Phonix's Morning Show and WLBT's Midday Mississippi in Jackson. "Dominic and the Secret Ingredient" is Bonasia's first published book and has already started working on the next book in the series as well as putting plans in motion to create an animated series based around his character to teach kids that cooking can be the basis for solving many challenges they may encounter in life.