Michael Bologna

Within the culinary industry, there is little that chef Michael Bologna hasn’t done. His father owned a grocery and butcher shop in Westchester County, N.Y., where Bologna worked from an early age. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. in 1974.  The following year, Bologna was one of 14 students out of a group of 1,400 who were invited back to the CIA to teach on fellowship. He specialized in procurement, and in 1981, Bologna returned to the CIA to run the procurement department.

In 1987, Bologna opened Nightingale’s Country Bistro in Westchester County with his parents. In the early 1990s he relocated to South Carolina, where he worked for a company involved in restaurant concept development. Leading up to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Bologna was hired as one of the foodservice directors for the Olympic Village. There, he was responsible for creating the specialized diets for more than 10,000 of the world’s top athletes. The Olympic Village had four 24-hour dining halls and three that operated 18 hours per day. The main dining hall sat 3,500 and featured 23 buffets that operated simultaneously.    

Returning once again to academia, in 2000 Bologna went on to develop the Culinary Arts program at The Center for Culinary Education at Chattahoochee Technical College in Marietta, Ga. He wrote all of the courses, lesson plans and tests, and brought in the instructors and trained them himself. He designed the program and curriculum with a truly hospitality career in mind, educating chefs in the business side of running a restaurant, not just the necessary culinary skills needed in a kitchen. The first classes began January 8, 2001 with 15 students. Now in its tenth year, the Culinary Arts program has 156 students and 200 waitlisted.

In 2008, Bologna opened Vingenzo’s in his adopted hometown of Woodstock, Ga., about 30 miles west of Atlanta. The pastaria and pizzeria specializes in Neapolitan cuisine. Vingenzo’s uses only fresh ingredients, the majority of which are made on the premises, including the pasta and pizza dough, mozzarella cheese and meats. Produce is sourced seasonally and locally, while ingredients such as olive oil, sea salt and bottled water (to make the pasta and pizza dough) are imported from Italy. When Vingenzo’s opened, all wines were $30 or less, but Bologna has slowly and carefully scaled up the assortment. Prices now range from $30 up to $95 for a private reserve collection that includes Brunello, Barolo, Chianti Reserve and Amaroni wines.

Earlier this month, Bologna was invited by the James Beard Foundation to prepare a meal for 80 distinguished guests at the James Beard House, highly revered honor in the culinary world. Bologna brought several members of his staff to create an authentic Neapolitan meal for the occasion with original dishes.

In the Q&A below, Chef Bologna discusses the challenges of preparing meals for Olympic athletes, respecting ingredients and understanding flavors. He also shares his recipes for rigatoni al forno and roasted loin of pork with spicy peach glaze that is served with cranberry, fig and onion relish.—Vanessa Facenda

Featured Recipes from Chef Bologna

Rigatoni
al Forno

Roasted Loin
of Pork with Spicy Peach Glaze

White Bean
and Sausage Stew

> Read more about Chef Bologna in this exclusive Q&A

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