Thomas B. H. Wong

Biography

THOMAS B.H. WONG, CEC, CHE, ’86, is a Chef-Instructor at the Culinary Institute of America.
Wong’s passion for all things culinary started as a Hawai’i youngster. Always in and out of his
grandma’s kitchen, he cooked with his mom, aunties and his grandma, learning to fine tune the
ingredients, spices and stunning flavors of the Asian dishes of his culture. Throughout his
teenage years, he toiled for two uncles: one owned a bakery in Honolulu and another, a
Chinese restaurant in California. He began his formal culinary education at, and graduated
from, Kapiolani Community College (he later served as Chef-Instructor for his first alma mater,
mentoring fledgling chefs as they found their way through the fundamentals and more
advanced principals of the culinary learning process). In pursuit of excellence, Wong then went
on to attend and graduate from The Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, NY. For the two
years following his CIA studies, he apprenticed for the iconic and award-winning Greenbrier
Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, sparking his love and respect for luxury hotels
and their award-winning cuisine. Wong has served in an Executive Chef capacity for a roster of
prestigious establishments: Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows on the Kohala Coast of the
Big Island of Hawai’i; Hotel Hana in Maui, Hana, Hawai’i; Waialae Country in Honolulu, Hawai’i;
and the historic Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu, Hawai’i. While at the Royal Hawaiian, Chef
Wong created “Flavors of Hawai’i”, a culinary concept adopted for all Sheraton Hawai’i hotels,
emphasizing the use of fresh island products to allow the purity of the food to speak for itself,
unhampered by heavy sauces or creams. His philosophy includes a strong commitment to
sustainability and he has always endeavored to use local and seasonal produce, fish and meat
in his kitchens. A Certified Executive Chef, Wong is also a member of the American Culinary
Federation, the National Ice Carving Federation, Phi Theta Kappa National Honor Society, and
Le Chaines des Rotisseurs. Wong has been a guest chef at the highly respected James Beard
House, for their Great Hotel Series, a Host and Guest Chef on Television Food Network’s
Cooking Across America – Hawaiian Style, as well as guest chef for TVFN shows Talking Food,
Dining Around, Pick of the Day and In Food Today. He has also appeared on CNN’s series On the
Menu, Wake Up America (America’s Talking Network/CNBC), Weekend TODAY in New York
(NBC), and Home and Family (The Family Channel). He proudly shares the limelight, with a
prestigious lineup of Hawaiian culinarians, as one of the featured chefs in the Discovery
Channel’s Great Chefs television series Great Chefs of Hawai’i, and its companion cookbook.
(Napa Valley, CA)