ADVERTISEMENT
The Food Network has given birth to some of the most famous names in the culinary world, and they look much different now than when they started out. These incredible then and now photos of your favorite Food Network Stars are all the proof you need that unlike cheese and fine wine, not everything gets better with age.
Emeril Lagasse – The Essence of Emeril
Lagasse made his first television appearance on Great Chefs until he was given his own show, The Essence of Emeril. Now-a-days the famous chef is still on TV on his new show Emeril’s Florida in which he showcases restaurants at Disney Springs in the Walt Disney World Resort. As a cookbook author, he also has written quite a few recipe books throughout the years, pays off to be a celebrity chef and TV personality.
Jamie Oliver – The Naked Chef
At just 24-years-old Oliver got his start on the Food Network show The Naked Chef, making interesting concoctions and talking about his band. Since then Oliver has focused less on TV and more on his initiative to teach kids about the importance of cooking. The British chef is mostly known for his typically English cuisine, and it has paved his way to numerous TV shows and restaurants, which are making their way across the world, most recently in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Bobby Flay – Grillin’ & Chillin
Bobby Flay brought the heat when he got his start on the Food Network hit show Grillin’ & Chillin. Still one of the reigning food TV personalities Flay went on to star in an episode of the series Entourage and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. His website includes recipes, fitness and health videos, and healthy recipes. He is a believer in a healthy lifestyle through eating and exercise. His main belief is everything in moderation.
Masaharu Morimoto – Iron Chef
In 1998 Masaharu Morimoto gave all the contestants a run for their money on the famous cooking show Iron Chef where he made a name for himself. The celebrity chef is now extremely successful with his own line of exclusive sushi restaurants. This Japanese chef is mostly known for his unique style of presenting food. His travels in America influenced his fusion style of cuisine. He established himself in NYC and worked in some of Manhattan’s prestigious restaurants.
Ina Garten -Barefoot Contessa
The culinary queen took over the Food Network in 2004, as the woman who uses only the best mayonnaise, on the series Barefoot Contessa. Today Garten is still looking flawless as always and has columns in magazines like Martha Stewart Living and O the Oprah magazine. Garten actually did not have any formal training, so she taught herself culinary techniques by learning from French and New England cookbooks. She then relied on intuition and feedback from her her friends and customers.
Mario Batali -Molto Mario
The undisputed King of Crocs, Mario Batali, is best known for his time on the show Molto Mario. The celebrity chef is still putting it down in the kitchen and was recently seen at the New York City Wine & Food Festival. Mario has become quite an expert in the history and culture of Italian cuisine. His signature style includes a fleece vest, shorts and orange Crocs. His restaurant Po in NYC enjoyed incredible success, which put him on the Food Network radar.
Sara Moulton – Cooking Live
In 2004 Moulton landed her own show Sara’s Secrets With Sara Moulton which was a huge hit and she has been with the Food Network ever since. One of Moulton’s most recent accomplishments has been publishing her book Home Cooking 101: How to Make Everything Taste Better in 2016. She has been described as “one of the most enduring recipe writers and cooking teachers”, in article for the New York Times.
Tyler Florence – Food 911
Tyler Florence has come along way since making his signature jelly doughnuts on Food 911 in 2001.
The talented chef has recently appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and has published several best-selling cookbooks. He is a chef and television host for multiple Food Network shows. He currently hosts Tyler’s Ultimate, and The Great Food Truck Race on the Food Network. He is also a successful cookbook author with several books to his list.
Sandra Lee – Semi-Homemade Cooking
Sandra Lee was all smiles in 2003 during the first season of her one of a kind cooking show, Semi-Homemade Cooking for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award. Lee has since starred in two new shows Sandra’s Restaurant Remakes and Sandra Lee’s Taverns, Lounges & Clubs. Her “Semi-Homemade” cooking concept is made up of using 70% pre-packaged products and 30% fresh items. She has also released 25 books and a magazine based on her show called Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade.
Anthony Bourdain – A Cook’s Tour
Culinary veteran Anthony Bourdain got his start on the Food Network with the show, A Cook’s Tour, in 2002.
He’s now best known for his show Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown which airs on CNN. He became famous for his 2000 book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. His very first food and world-travel television show was launched and it was called A Cook’s Tour, which ran for 35 episodes on the Food Network from 2002 through 2003.
Amy Finley – The Gourmet Next Door
After winning the third season of The Next Food Network Star Finley was given her own show, The Gourmet Next Door, but it was nixed after just six episodes. She reappeared in 2012 on an episode of Chopped but was eliminated in the second round. She has also appeared on shows like The View and The Splendid Table. She admits that her culinary inspirations hail from French grandmothers and the famous Julia Child.
Dan Smith & Steve McDonagh – Party Line with the Hearty Boys
The Chicago-based caterers got their Food Network show (taped without a studio audience), Party Line with the Hearty Boys, and later went on to open the successful Chicago restaurant and hotspot called HB: A Hearty Boys Spot. They also released the cookbook titled Talk with Your Mouth Full: The Hearty Boys Cookbook. Their main aim was to deconstruct food that is suitable for entertaining but still is able to retain a simple and comfortable heartiness.
Aaron McCargo Jr. – Big Daddy’s House
Best known as the winner of The Next Food Network Star’s fourth season McCargo went on to get his own show on the network called Big Daddy’s House in 2008. After the show ended in 2011, he went on to appear in shows for other networks like Spike TV’s Bar Rescue. His general culinary preference is for meats, with bold and spicy flavors, while he avoids using overly complex recipes. He calls it a cultural mixture of “soul food”.
Melissa D’Arabian – Ten Dollar Dinners
D’Arabian’s breakout show Ten Dollar Dinners was just the beginning of her successful Food Network career. D’Arabian has also appeared on shows such as Chopped, Guy’s Grocery Games, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, Food Network Challenge and The Best Thing I Ever Made. She won the fifth season of Food Network Star in 2009, which lead her to host Ten Dollar Dinners. Her cooking style is focused on American and French food.
Aarti Sequeira – Aarti Party
The Indian chef was the winner of the sixth season of The Next Food Network Star. After her big win, Sequeira went on to host her own cooking show Aarti Party and is also a host on the popular Food Network show Guy’s Grocery Games. She had previously worked as a news producer on the CNN channel. She now hosts another cooking show called Taste in Translation which is based on finding the most popular dishes around the world.
Jeff Mauro – Sandwich King
Jeff Mauro was the winner of the seventh season of Food Network Star in 2011, making a name for himself as the “Sandwich King.” He got the nickname from maintaining a strict concentration on creating sandwiches throughout the competition. He was critisized for his choice but stood by the fact that any handheld “meal” can, in his mind, be classified as a sandwich. Mauro is now the host of the Daytime Emmy-nominated show Sandwich King and $24 in 24.
Justin Warner – Foodie Call
The former Food Network Star winner was supposed to be the star if the show Rebel with a Culinary Cause but it was never filmed. Instead, Warner filmed a one-hour special for the network called Rebel Eats and is the host of Foodie Call, a FoodNetwork.com web series. He is the author of the book The Laws of Cooking: And How To Break Them.
Damaris Phillips – Southern At Heart
No one knows Southern food quite like Phillips, a Kentucky-born Belle and host of the Food Network’s Southern at Heart. Before she became the host of her own show, Phillips won the ninth season of Food Network Star. So how did Phillips end up being a pro in the kitchen? She explained that she chose to go to culinary school because she “didn’t know what to do in life”. Turned out to be a good choice for her, as he later became a culinary instructor.
Lenny McNab – Guy’s Grocery Games
McNab won the tenth season of Food Network Star in 2013, and has since participated in the hit show Guy’s Grocery Games. Most recently McNab has begun a career as a country singer called The Black Mamba. His style of cooking was known as his “elevated chuck wagon”, however, a show never materialized after a series of racist, homophobic and misogynistic blog posts were found out; and not to mention some really raunchy YouTube videos online.
Eddie Jackson -BBQ Blitz
Once a former football star, Jackson is now the host of the Food Network show BBQ Blitz, which made it’s premiere on Oct 9, of 2015. The professional athlete, who was signed by the Carolina Panthers, turned chef as proven to be a real fan favorite with his witty charm and practical recipes. In April 2016, it was official that he would host a new cooking competition series for Food Network called Kids BBQ Championship, with model Camila Alves as co-host.
Kelsey Nixon-Kelsey and Spike Cook
While Nixon only made it for the final four during the fourth season of Food Network Star, her girl next door charm made her memorable on camera, so she was given her own Food Network web series Kelsey and Spike Cook. In fact, Nixon created her own cooking show while she was still in college, called Kelsey’s Kitchen. She also earned her professional culinary arts degree at Le Cordon Bleu. She also interned at Martha Stewart Living.
Adam Gertler – Kid in a Candy Store
While Gertler didn’t take home the Food Network Star season 4 title, it was only a matter of time before the camera-ready Gertler got his own gig, on Food Network’s Will Work For Food. Gertler now travels the country in search of sweets on the new show, Kid in a Candy Store. He is now one of the hosts of the DC movie news podcast on the Popcorn Talk Network.
Jeffrey Saad – The Next Food Network Star
In 2009 Saad became the runner-up of the fifth season of The Next Food Network Star. Shortly after the Food Network gave him his own web series called Spice Smuggler, and he now hosts United Tastes of America on the Cooking Channel. Saad’s love for the culinary business began when he was only a teenager working at a diner. A few years down the line, Saad traveled to Mexico to expand his knowledge of Mexican cuisine, which led him to open Sweet Heat, a Mexican-influenced restaurant.
Tom Pizzica – Outrageous Food
Pizzica may not have been the official winner of Food Network Star’s sixth season, but he still managed to score his own primetime Food Network show, Outrageous Food, anyway. His “Big Chef” personality and 15 years of restaurant experience, he gave a whole new meaning of uncovering jaw-dropping and eye-popping foods on his show. He considers his mom to be his biggest influence when it comes to cooking. He would help her prepare meals for his siblings when his mom worked late hours.
Simon Majumdar – Iron Chef America
The British American chef has become a familiar face on many of the Food Network’s series including Cutthroat Kitchen, Iron Chef America, All Star Academy and The Next Iron Chef. Recently Majumdar published the culinary book Fed, White, and Blue. He appeared as a judge on some Food Network shows and because of his severe allergy to coffee and oysters, and therefore neither of those ingredients can be used in recipes judged by him.
Alexandra Guarnaschelli – Alex’s Day Off
The spunky chef may have lost the “Farmers’ Market Battle” to Cat Cora on Iron Chef America in 2007, but since then she has become a big name in food TV. Guarnaschelli now has her own show on The Food Network called Alex’s Day Off. The celebrity chef and executive chef at NYC’s Butter restaurant. She was also the executive chef of the award-winning restaurant The Darby, before it closed.
Michael Symon – The Best Thing I Ever Ate
In 2007 Syon won his first battle on Iron Chef America and since then he has become a Food Network star. Symon is regularly seen on shows like Iron Chef America, Food Feuds, and The Best Thing I Ever Ate. His cooking style is mainly based around a “meat-centric” approach. His work has also included to helping “save” the restaurant scene in Downtown Cleveland, Ohio. He is a chef and owner of several restaurants in the Greater Cleveland.
Anne Burrell – Secrets Of a Restaurant Chef
In 2005 Burrell got the opportunity of a lifetime after she was asking by Mario Batali to be one of his sous chefs on the Iron Chef America series. Since then she has become the host of the show Secrets Of a Restaurant Chef and the co-host of Worst Cooks in America and The Best Thing I Ever Ate. She is engaged to her girlfriend Koren Grieveson, also a chef, and tweeted about it publicly.
Geoffrey Zakarian – Iron Chef
Since joining the Food Network on the show Iron Chef, Zakarian has appeared in many Food Network shows such as Top Chef, Hell’s Kitchen, and The Kitchen. In 2016 the creative chef began hosting the network’s new show Cooks vs. Cons. The accomplished chef is known for his sophisticated taste and signature style, and is said to be opening two new concepts – Point Royal and Counter Point in Hollywood. He has also just debuted his own line of home kitchen products.
Sunny Anderson – The Kitchen
The light-hearted Food Network TV personality got her start hosting Gotta Get It in 2007 and has since hosted the network’s shows How’d That Get On My Plate? in July of 2008 and Cooking for Real. Most recently Anderson became a co-host of The Kitchen. Sunny has also been a guest on talk shows and morning news programs such as Good Morning America, The Early Show, The View and The Talk.
Robert Irvine – Worst Cooks in America
Irvine had his first cooking experience while enlisting in the Royal Navy at the age of fifteen. Since getting his start on the popular show Worst Cooks in America Irvine has become a Food Network veteran as he’s starred in several of the network’s popular programs including Dinner: Impossible, Restaurant: Impossible, chopped, and most recently All-Star Academy. In 2016 he launched his own daytime talk show on The CW, called The Robert Irvine Show.
Marcela Valladolid – Mexican Made Easy
Her interest in cooking sparked when she started working at her Aunt Marcela’s cooking school in Mexico. She then graduated as a trained pastry chef at the Ritz Escoffier Cooking School. The Food Network welcomed the Mexican chef with open arms in 2010 giving Valladolid her own show, Mexican Made Easy. After Valladolid proved to be a fan favorite she was given a spot on another Food Network show The Kitchen as a co-host.
Aarón Sanchez -Taco Trip
Sanchez began as a cohost on the program Melting Pot but has since made it up the ranks earning his own Emmy-nominated show Taco Trip. Sanchez is also the co-star of Food Network’s series, Chopped. He is an author of two cookbooks and has line of vibrant and unique Latin-inspired, top-quality home products.
Guy Fieri – Guy’s Big Bite
After winning the second season of The Next Food Network Star, Fieri was given his own show in 2006 Guy’s Big Bite and the series was such a hit that it still continues today. His main appeal to the Food Network channel was “his rowdy, mass-market culture to American food television”, according to The New York Times, “his prime-time shows attract more male viewers than any others on the network”.
Cat Cora – Iron Chef
Best known for her role as the Iron Chef from 2005 to 2012 on the Food Network series the Iron Chef Cora has since diversified her TV career and is now the co-host of the Australian cooking show My Kitchen Rules. She also acts as co-host on the Bravo channel on the show Around The World in 80 Plates. Cooking must’ve run through the family as both her grandfather and father were restaurateurs.
Nigella Lawson – Nigella Bites
The beautiful Nigella Lawson became famous after being given her own show, Nigella Bites in 2000 which first aired in the UK. Now more famous for her good looks than her cooking, Lawson is now set to return to Master Chef Australia as a guest judge. Lawson also ran into a bit of trouble with publicly advocating fur, and trying to hide her drug problem by blackmailing her assistants, she since denied that she has an addiction problem and totally drug-free today.
Giada De Laurentiis – Everyday Italian
Almost every male in America became obsessed with the cute cook after making her Food Network debut in 2003 on the show Everyday Italian. She’s now the current host of Giada At Home and appears regularly as a guest co-host on NBC’S Today show. The Italian-born chef and TV personality has also delved into sharing her favorite eating spots from around the globe, on her website, she also shares personal moments and recipes there too.
Alton Brown – Good Eats
Good Eats hit the Food Network in 1999 and made Alton Brown a star. The show educated beginner culinary masters on the science behind cooking and since then has been on Feasting On Asphalt, Cutthroat Kitchen, and is now working on a Good Eats Sequel. He is outspoken in his shows about his particular dislike of single-purpose kitchen utensils and equipment, however, he does adapt a few traditionally single-purpose devices. He enjoys adding an element of science to his recipes.
Rachael Ray – 30 Minute Meals
The young Rachel Ray made cooking a chef meal look easy on her hit show, 30 Minute Meals that hit the Food Network in 2002. She hosted the show for 27 seasons. It was a huge success, and her show won three Daytime Emmy Awards. After Ray’s dramatic weight transformation she hasn’t been on TV, but she has recently put out a cookbook Everyone is Italian on Sunday. Ray explained that her grandfather’s Sicilian background strongly influenced her cooking style.
Paula Deen – Paula’s Home Cooking
Paula Deen was everyone’s favorite country belle on the 2003 Food Network series Paula’s Home Cooking until she was under fire for making distasteful racial jokes. The celebrity chef is still spreading cheer working on her new show Positively Paula. Together with her sons, she now owns and operates The Lady & Sons restaurant in Georgia. She’s also an author of fourteen cookbooks, and also launched a lifestyle magazine – Cooking with Paula Deen.
ADVERTISEMENT
The post Food Network Stars: Then and Now appeared first on IFLMyLife.