Chef George Germon, who co-created with his wife Johanne Killeen the landmark Providence restaurant Al Forno, has died on October 27, 2015, following an illness.
After starting on Steeple Street, Al Forno later moved to its current location on South Main Street, where it continues to draw crowds.
George was credited with the creation of grilled pizza – one of the signature dishes at Al Forno.
“George was a quiet genius,” says a longtime friend, Pot au Feu owner Bob Burke.
“He was a person who completely changed cooking not just in Providence, but all across the nation.
George took cooking back to roots that people had long since forgotten.
And the idea that someone would return to cooking over the fire, where it all began, he perfected something that had been done for millions of years.”
George grew up in White Plains, New York.
He got to know Killeen better when he was teaching in Italy for the Rhode Island School of Design, and she had gone there to study photography.
George passed away in October 2015.