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Chopped Junior Champion Shares Culinary Talent at Xaverian
Christian Bonadio, an eighth grader in the Francis Xavier Division, already has an accomplished resume in the culinary arts, and all by the age of 14. Christian appeared on Chopped Junior and won, he’s taken the lead in launching the new Cooking Club at Xaverian, and he’s even started making and packaging his own barbecue sauce. Christian attributes this passion for cooking to his family, recounting how he began to help his grandmother in the kitchen on Christmas Eve at the age of five. “My parents and my two grandmothers really taught me how to cook and all I know now.” He says that his favorite style of food to make is Italian, “mostly pizza,” he adds.
This love for cooking brought Christian to new heights when he appeared on the Food Network’s Chopped Junior, an episode that aired in August 2016, just before Christian began at Xaverian. Chopped Junior features four young chefs who cook their way through appetizers, main courses, and desserts using mystery ingredients. A panel of celebrity chefs judge these dishes until a $10,000 champion is crowned.
Christian cooked a seared pheasant appetizer, a main course of Peking duck served with the mystery ingredient, gummy brain-shaped candies, and molten lava cakes for dessert. His talent in the kitchen led to his being crowned Chopped Junior champion.
Now, Christian is bringing his skills in the kitchen to Clapboardtree Street by starting Xaverian’s Cooking Club. Donna O’Connor, the Administrative Assistant for Advancement and Xaverian’s resident culinarian, serves as club moderator. Students have worked on a variety of cooking techniques this year, from scratch pizza dough to homemade sorbet. In April, they had the opportunity to speak to Angelo Sosa, a professional chef who was one of Christian’s judges on Chopped Junior. “I have been in contact with him ever since I’ve been on the show,” Christian says. “He is a really nice person who loves to give back to his community.” Sosa spoke to the group about his experiences as a chef and a business owner.
Outside of school, Christian bottles and sells his own barbecue sauce. “I came up with the sauce last year. I was making chicken and wanted barbeque sauce to go with it, so I put a bunch of stuff in the pot. Once I started making it, people were telling me that
I should sell it. I decided to do it more as a hobby rather than something to make money, so I started giving it to friends and family. In December, we went to a Christmas fair at my preschool, and we first started selling it there.” Christian is in the process of permitting the sauce and hopes to begin selling it on Amazon soon.
As a regular viewer of the Food Network, Donna O’Connor says she saw Christian’s Chopped Junior episode before ever meeting him. “What stood out the most to me, aside from his cooking talents, was that of all the contestants on the show, Christian was the most humble. He actually exhibited each of Xaverian’s values. When I was introduced to him, I let him know, ‘You were a Xaverian student before you even walked through our doors!’”
Xaverian Brothers High School
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EIN (Tax ID Number): 04-2314036
Fax: 781-320-0458
Directions | Contact Us | Privacy Policy
EIN (Tax ID Number): 04-2314036
Xaverian is a Catholic, college-preparatory school for boys in grades 7-12. As an inclusive community, we embrace diverse experiences and perspectives, welcoming students and families from all faiths and backgrounds. Through exceptional academics, athletics, the arts, faith formation, and service opportunities, we help young men discover their unique gifts and talents so they can share them with a world in need.
