2025 Commencement Speaker
Kevin Boehm Co-founder & Co-Owner, Boka Restaurant Group
After enduring homelessness, fist fights, and six months working at an amusement park, he wrote an embellished resumé that landed him a coveted captain position at Beach House Restaurant. Within a few years, he’d squirreled away enough money to open a six-table restaurant in 1993 in Seaside, Florida, the picture-perfect location where Peter Weir’s The Truman Show, starring Jim Carrey, was filmed. In 1995, he opened Indigo Wine Bar in the same town, and help cater the movie’s dailies screenings. Restaurants in Springfield, Illinois, and Nashville, Tennesseee followed. By age 30, Boehm had opened and sold off four restaurants. In 2002, Boehm partnered with Rob Katz to form what in time became Boka Restaurant Group. Eventually, they would open 36 places in less than 20 years.
After opening 40 restaurants over the last 30 years, James Beard Foundation Award-winning restaurateur Kevin Boehm has established himself as one of the world’s foremost hospitality visionaries. Kevin, along with his partner Rob Katz, has a built a restaurant group based on great chefs, inspired design, and enlightened hospitality. Born in 1970, Kevin grew up in Springfield, Illinois, and told his mother at age 10 that he wanted to open his own restaurant one day. After attending the University of Illinois for two nonconsecutive years, he dropped out and moved to the Florida Panhandle to start working in restaurants and embark on a self-directed on-the-job hospitality education.
12
Powered by FlippingBook