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JOHANNE KILLEEN AND GEORGE GERMON
Johanne Killeen and George Germon are chefs/owners of Al Forno Restaurant, which
opened in Providence in January 1980. Al Forno, which literally means “from the oven,”
was inspired by the opulence and style of Northern Italy’s fine cuisine, which makes
extensive use of wood-burning ovens or open-flame grills
Killeen and Germon became enamored of Italian cuisine when they lived and traveled
throughout Italy. Johanne worked in a tiny restaurant outside of Florence, and George
taught for Rhode Island School of Design’s European Honors Program in Rome at
Palazzo Cenci. The couple’s training in the fine arts, Killeen as a photographer and
Germon as a sculptor and architect, is reflected in the sense of design displayed in the
restaurant’s interior as well as in the creative presentation of their dishes.
As Johanne explains: “For us, our restaurant, Al Forno, is simply an art project that keeps
evolving. The kitchen is our studio, and the food we cook is like a canvas that is
continually being repainted, changed, and refined. Food is eaten the way art is perceived;
it is digested and recorded. Given the right circumstances, a connection is made and
communication takes place, which is what art is all about.”
Indeed, the food that Killeen and Germon serve at Al Forno has led to national recognition
for the husband/wife team. They are most famous for inventing grilled pizza, and in recent
years, have garnered international acclaim, catching the culinary world’s attention with
their oven-baked pasta dishes, vegetable combinations fragrant with garlic, olive oil, and
Mediterranean herbs, and their superb desserts all cooked to order with the freshest
ingredients.
Al Forno has earned prestigious accolades including: one of the “Best Regional
Restaurants’ in America according to John Mariani of Playboy; Esquire named Al Forno
one of the best new eateries; Conde Nast Traveler gave Al Forno their “Distinguished
Restaurants of North America” award, and Nation’s Restaurant News gave Al Forno the
Hall of Fame Award. In addition, GQ Magazine presented their “Golden Dish’ award to
the restaurant for their outstanding Lemon Meringue Tart. On a most impressive note,
Patricia Wells writing for the The International Herald Tribune’s “World’s Best
Restaurants” selected Al Forno as “Number One” in the world for Casual Dining.
USA Today named Johanne Killeen, one of the top twenty women chefs in the country.
She is a founding member of The International Association of Women Chefs and
Restaurateurs group (WCR). Food and Wine named Johanne and George two of The Ten
Best Chefs in America, while the James Beard Foundation named them “Rising Stars of
America”, and later “Great Regional Chefs”. In 1993, the Foundation honored them with
the award for “Best Chef in the Northeast”. Killeen and Germon have been inducted into
the Johnson and Wales University’s “Hall of Fame” as “Distinguished Visiting Chefs”.
Their peers have also honored the two chefs with the prestigious “Ivy Award”. In 1999
the restaurant was recipient of the “Insegna del Ristorante Italiano” granted to select
Italian restaurants abroad by the Italian Ministries of Agriculture and of Foreign Trade and
in the same year, Johanne and George received Honorary Doctorates in Culinary Arts
from Johnson and Wales University.
These culinary artists have featured in Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, The New York
Times, Glamour, Esquire, New England Monthly, Metropolitan Home, Boston Globe,
USA Today, Family Circle, Conde Nast Traveler, House Beautiful, New England Living,
and Fine Cooking. Additional features include a profile of the chefs by Bryan Miller in
The New York Times, and several articles by Alison Arnett of The Boston Globe who
bestowed on Al Forno her highest four-star rating given only to those deserving the
description “extraordinary.” The Ladies Home Journal also featured the couple in an
article with Julia Child who discusses her TV series “In Julia’s Kitchen with Master
Chefs”.
In October 1997, Killeen and Germon were the subjects of Molly O’Neill’s “Food” in The
New York Times Magazine. Their Thanksgiving recipes were the subject of Coastal
Living’s November ‘97 feature article, and their article “ A Cozy but Elegant Christmas
Dinner” appeared in the January ‘98 issue of Fine Cooking.
Johanne Killeen and George Germon have shared their techniques in cooking classes
around the world. In the U. S., they have taught at DeGustibus at Macy’s in New York
City; Bristol Farms, Draeger’s and Fetzer Vineyards in California, and La Varenne at the
Greenbrier in West Virginia. They have appeared on several television cooking shows
such as Sara Moulton’s Cooking Live Primetime, Martha Stewart Living TV, and Julia
Child’s Cooking with Master Chefs and Baking with Julia. Internationally, they have
conducted classes for Seabourn Cruise Lines in Asia and the Mediterranean. In Italy, they
teach regularly for the Wine and Culinary Center at the Capezzana Estate in Tuscany, the
Hotel Cipriani in Venice, and the Regaleali Wine Estate in Sicily with Anna Tasca Lanza.
In 1991, Killeen and Germon wrote a James Beard award-winning cookbook, CUCINA
SIMPATICA: Robust Trattoria Cooking, published by HarperCollins, NYC. The book
catalogues their romance with quality ingredients, and their acute instinct and skill in
creating meals that enhance the fine flavor of each ingredient. The recipes in CUCINA
SIMPATICA are based on the dishes served at Al Forno. Their second cookbook, On
Top of Spaghetti… .Macaroni, Linguine, Penne and Pasta of Every Kind, was released by
HarperCollins (William Morris Cookbooks) in November 2006. This book is a
celebration of the love affair George and Johanne have had with pasta for several decades.
Pasta Dishes
Pasta Dishes
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