WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Bahamas was well represented at the DC Embassy Chef Challenge presented by TCMA at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., on Tuesday, April 2, 2019.
On its Facebook page, The Bahamas Embassy Consular Annex congratulated “Chef Ron Johnson and Chef Richmond Fowler for successfully competing in the Embassy Chef Challenge and capturing a Bronze in the People’s Choice for their dish, which featured a succulent Bahamian lobster coconut stew in a plantain cup, served with a savory curry cracker and rum infused red bell pepper gel.”
“The chefs also submitted the Island Shandi, a signature drink, which was certainly a hit with the crowd,” the Consular Annex noted.
His Excellency Sidney Collie, Bahamas Ambassador to the United States and Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS), and Mr. Theo Neilly, Bahamas Consul General to Washington, D.C., attended the event, along with several staff members of both the Embassy and the Consular Annex.
The DC Embassy Chef Challenge has been “a staple of Cultural Tourism DC’s Passport DC program, a month-long celebration of Washington DC’s diplomatic community, since 2009,” according to TCMA’s website.
“ The Challenge, an event that can only happen in the District, which is home to more than 190 embassies, provides a setting for culinary diplomacy to thrive as a diverse group of highly regarded chefs from around the world prepare an authentic sip and bite from their homeland for attendees to taste,” the website notes.
Chef Ron Johnson, one of the two chefs who represented The Bahamas, is described in his online biography as “an authentic. proud son of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas,” who spent “his formative years at St. Augustine’s College, stumbling into a Home Economics class, starting in the ninth (9th) grade.”
“Although he thoroughly enjoyed the culinary art and science, upon graduation in 1998, he was clueless as to which direction to step forth professionally,” his biography noted. “However, his mother would have the foresight to enroll him at the Bahamas Hotel Training College. Though reluctant of the prospect and feeling like an underachiever, his affinity and penchant for the profession as well as strong mentorship helped guide him towards professional and academic excellence, earning him the highest GPA within his class.”
After completing the Culinary Skills program, Johnson “earned the chance to become a Chef Apprentice, choosing Atlantis Resort & Casino, astutely and feverishly studying his profession for 3 years (beginning in 1999) in various kitchens; he viewed the restaurants and production kitchens as a classroom, avoiding complacency in the process.”
“It was during those decisive years, he would be exposed to haute cuisine, various types of international flare and styles of food service, but more importantly, it began his organizational refinement,” his online biography states. “In 2002, he saw that he needed to further his education and attended Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. Despite many financial and personal setbacks resulting in delaying school thrice during his academic tenure, he acquired his Culinary Arts Bachelor’s degree in 2006.”
Johnson’s culinary style is described as “modern, unrestricted and versatile, reflective of the demanding palate of his clientele.”
