Chef Bios
Chef De Cuisine Joe Thomas Jr.
Chef Joe Thomas Jr. approaches his menu of contemporary, yet inherently American dishes with energy and creativity, while honoring the simplicity of the ingredients. His connection to creating updated American classics comes from his own passion and love of developing flavors that blend the familiar with the unexpected.
Joe found his love for cooking as a teen and started in the restaurant industry at age 14. Joe worked his way up under Bank & Bourbon’s Executive Chef Thomas Harkins, starting as a culinary apprentice while attending school, and has ascended to Chef de Cuisine of Bank & Bourbon through hard work and displaying a talent for culinary creativity. In this role, Chef Tomas Jr. oversees the kitchen staff to ensure menu items are prepared and executed perfectly.
He served as Sous Chef of SoleFood, located at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel, for over seven years, and in his spare time enjoys cheering for the local sports teams, including the Eagles, Sixers, Flyers, and Phillies, in addition to fishing. A 2009 graduate of Walnut Hill College, Joe is a native Philadelphian.
Pastry Chef Brenda Phe
Brenda Phe was born in California and raised in Philadelphia. Although she was born on the West Coast and raised on the East Coast she was raised to value hard work and passion for all her endeavors, chief of which is cooking and especially baking. Brenda developed a love for baking at an early age and always wanted to be in the kitchen helping cook food with her extended family.
By the time Brenda was a teenager, she began to focus more on baking and could be found making scratch cakes and cookies for family events. Suffice it to say, spending time in a crowded, noisy kitchen and creating beautiful and flavorful dessert items are Brenda’s favorite pastime. Hours upon hours were spent studying cookbooks and putting her own personal twist on recipes.
Brenda studied Culinary Arts at The Art Institute of Philadelphia and joined the Loews team as a Pastry Apprentice shortly after graduating in 2011. Brenda’s passion and joie de vivre for all things culinary carry over to other parts of her life. When she is not hard at work in the pastry kitchen, Brenda spends time mentoring her 10 nieces and nephews along with painting and enjoying her mom’s famous home-style cooking.