Bona roots

Once upon a time, there was a little brat named Nick…

Nick grew up in the suburbs of New York City. His father and grandmother were from Italy. He remembers waking to the smell of amazing food, made the old way, with fresh ingredients, usually home grown and definitely homemade. When he was five years old he told his father “I’m going to be a chef.” And he set out to do just that: working as a teenager in the local fine-dining spot, heading to the Culinary Institute of America for formal training, and ultimately opening his own restaurant, to high acclaim.

Chef Nick Di Bona was on his way!

The funniest thing happened

As young Chef Nick was getting some very nice attention for his culinary artistry, he was invited to compete on Food Network’s hit show Chopped® - the “Brunch Boxes” episode. Round One, Appetizer: Nick shows-off his skill and creativity by transforming quail eggs, kale, Champagne and caviar into Warm Kale Salad with Champagne Poached Quail Eggs. The judges loved the dish, but for one complaint. Not enough caviar on his plate. Why? Nick had won our hearts by donating some of his caviar to his struggling competitor. Round One, Chef Nick. Round Two, Entrée: What to do with an Emu egg, pancake mix, Bloody Mary mix, and fresh lobsters? A tense Chopped moment while Nick stands there staring at his ingredients while the remaining contestants frantically run around the kitchen. The judges are concerned. Fifteen seconds go by, lots of TV drama unfolding here. Then Nick springs into action. Anyone who knows Chef Di Bona, knows that he had composed his entire dish during those tense15 seconds. Nick finishes off his dish by abusing a Vitamix® with a load of lobster shells. The end result is a Battered Lobster over Butter Herb Vermicelli, with a Lobster Cream Sauce. Brilliant. We get to Round 3, the dessert round, and it’s neck and neck, down to Nick and the other remaining chef. The basket ingredients are Auraucana eggs, waffles, Maple syrup and Canadian bacon. During an insert shot, Nick tells us
that - spoiler alert - “I love making homemade ice cream.” He does make an ice cream, sort of. He makes Maple Gelato with Waffle Crumble and a Bacon Sabayon. The judges are blown away. In one fell swoop Nick Di Bona wins Chopped and introduces America to whatever the heck sabayon is (Mirriam-Webster: : a sauce of egg yolks, wine, and savory seasonings such as mustard or pepper).

And then the stars aligned

When the NY Times came to review Nick’s newly opened restaurant, Madison Kitchen, the final sentence of a glowing review foretold all: Blah blah blah “…but oh the ice cream! He (Di Bona) should really sell that stuff by the pint!” Eureka! Nick suddenly realized that making ice cream is the most fun part of his job, and it always makes people happy, which always makes him happy. Soon after he does the unthinkable - he ditches his own restaurant and decides to focus 100% on ice cream. That’s it. He calls it Bona Bona Ice Cream.