Cristina Bowerman was born in Cerignola, a small town in Puglia, Italy. After pursuing legal studies in San Francisco, her culinary interest flourished years later in Austin, where she earned a degree in Culinary Arts, honing her skills and focusing on flavour concentration. In 2005, she moved to Rome and, after an initial experience at Convivio Troiani, joined Glass Hostaria, a restaurant that had opened just a year previously in the city’s Trastevere district. Glass is a contemporary and innovative space, both in philosophy and gastronomic offerings, challenging the traditional Trastevere scene - just like Bowerman’s cuisine. Her cooking is a cultural crossroad that tells the story of taste through a constant dialogue between traditions, cultures, memories, and places.

Since 2010, she has held one Michelin Star and three forks from Gambero Rosso and became a case study at Bocconi University in the same year. ‘From Cerignola to San Francisco and Back – My Life as a Contrarian Chef’ (Mondadori 2014) is one of the two books published by Bowerman highlighting this unconventional personality. In 2024, Chef Cristina Bowerman was honoured by Il Gusto as the Ambassador of Italian cuisine in the world, receiving the award in a category that included three other Michelin-starred Chefs, among the biggest names in Italian haute cuisine.

Bowerman says of her success: “I learnt not to be afraid to be a woman in a professional field, including the kitchen. It’s taken me years to succeed, and I still continue to have no fear. We don’t want riches; we reinvest everything back into the business. Ultimately, I wish to be a role model for women in the kitchen.”