Rising Stars: JJC Culinary Alums Thrive at Chicago’s Michelin-Rated Moody Tongue

Four Joliet Junior College (JJC) culinary alumni have reunited to form an extraordinary team at one of Chicago’s most prestigious restaurants and breweries. Moody Tongue, located in Chicago’s South Loop, is the first and only brewery to receive a Michelin star rating.

The Michelin star is one of the most prestigious accolades in the culinary world. Executive chef James Bingham explains that it signifies a restaurant’s excellence in quality, creativity and consistency of its cuisine.

“Not a lot of people are doing what we do,” says Bingham. “We’re trying to bridge that gap between a blue-collar beer and fine-dining. It’s innovative, and people are interested in how we do it.”
  
How they do it, says sous chef Joshua Quade, is with a lot of teamwork and dedication to their craft.

“It’s not easy,” admits pastry chef Anthony Kozlowski. “You have to be willing to miss out on holidays, birthdays, weddings and pretty much any personal commitment when you work in this industry, especially at a Michelin star-rated restaurant.”

During their time as culinary students at JJC, the Moody Tongue team remembers working Friday night dinners and various shifts in JJC’s student-run restaurants with Chef Timothy Bucci.

“It was our first real-world experience,” says Kozlowski. “And Bucci pushed us a lot, but it was such a real and honest way to introduce us to the industry.”

Beyond the restaurants, all four alums competed in various culinary competitions during their time at JJC and worked alongside many master chefs.

As for how this foursome works as a team today, chef de partie Alexis Ramos says, “We work well together because of JJC. We have similar training and competition experience, and I think we’ve all carried that with us into our careers.”

Quade adds, “We all put our egos aside and we love to learn from each other. That’s the biggest piece of advice I have. Keep learning from each other.”

The Moody Tongue team has their sights set another Michelin star in 2025, and Bingham is confident this group can do it.

“It’s a proud moment when you can form a team like this. I am excited to see where we can go from here.”

This story was originally published in the spring 2025 issue of Connections Magazine.