Tommy

Tommy is a multi-faceted, Chicago Fashion Designer, & Reality TV personality from MasterChef Season 6. An international bon vivant, and luxury lifestyle guru, blending a fusion of haute couture, art, and cuisine. With his unique style,genteel manners, & epicurean background, Tommy has cultivated his own brand of "edu-tainment" and "Joie de vivre"! Tommy is constantly exploring the gourmet hauteur of European gastronomic temples, as well as the culinary epicenter of his hometown, Chicago.

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In 1976, my Mom took me to London where she was working for Vidal Sassoon. Upon arrival I was asked to be a hair model.At the tender age of 12, I became entranced forever with fashion, cuisine, and culture. With my first paycheck, I was allowed to go shopping. I went to King's Road and found Vivienne Westwood!!! This was during the height of punk & disco!!! I began my transformation from a regular boy from the Southside of Chicago into the hyper-sophisticated monster of style that I am today!

20 years of sharing my talent, life lessons and professional experience in Fashion Design,& traveling with an international group of students on study trips to The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Brazil,& Argentina. My repertoire has expanded into televised "edu-tainment". Ive been a recurring guest on local WTTW/PBS award-winning restaurant review show "Check, Please". In 2015, I was cast as a contestant on FOX's Hit Show MasterChef Season 6, & instantly became a popular audience favorite!

1.My designer shoes, with a fabulous metal platform heel somehow got "magnetized" to the stairs at the hottest club in NYC whilst the coolest nightlife denizens looked on in amazement as I panicked in distress trying to retrieve my fancy shoes. 2.Another time, at a fashion show in Paris, my heel broke away from my new boots, and I had to crouch down & hide between two cars, until a taxi could get close enough for me to escape unnoticed by fashionistas! It was truly a LUCILLE BALL moment !!!

Babette's Feast

MasterChef

My smile.

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My "sense-memory"! I have a unique habit of memorizing ingredients, flavors,aromas & dishes from years ago, from childhood into adulthood. I can recount what everybody at my table ordered in restaurants decades ago, even in foreign locales. This enables me to re-create dishes from scratch, without the aid of cookbooks or instruction. I also remember numbers,quantity and measurements due to years of fittings in the fashion business. Like "Rainman", I recall unusual details to shock and amaze!

My endless creativity, potency, and lightness of character, coupled with a desire to entertain with generosity and flair. I am a highly sought after dinner companion and conversational wunderkind. Always dressed to impress in the newest, hippest, high fashion, and accessories, I always try to add a serious dose of intense color and vivacious energy with my bubbling effervescent personality and witty sharp tongue !!! I have been told I'm "MEDIA-GENIC" !!!

My friends have NEVER complained about any of my personality traits or habits, other than my unrelenting high standards, which they are frequently the happy recipients of...

My vivacious energy, unbelievable creativity, and quick wit has served me well ! I am quite resilient and able to bounce back from adversity with a vengeance. I'm a good judge of character, and like to share the wisdom that I have acquired through age and experience. I am a mentor, a teacher, and a life lessons guru.

I don't like to exercise!

I am a happily married gay man! I LOVE my charmed LIFE !!! Roger and I have been together for a thrilling 30 years! We have been legally married for 5 years.