Jeff Mauro Says He’s ‘Done’ With Food Competition Shows Forever
Food Network is full of food competition and cooking shows, which keep its viewers entertained. From the how-to presentations to the theme cooking competition shows, the network seems to know what its fans like and keeps them coming back for more.
Some of the network’s celebrity chefs got their rise to fame from the Food Network’s cooking competition. One such chef is Jeff Mauro, who has had his fair share of food competition shows participation.
Mauro, however, announced that he was done with all the cooking competition shows. Fans were taken aback by the news, seeing as Mauro is known for his participation in such shows.
Although Mauro has his cooking shows now, the chef will be missed by most of his fans who liked watching him compete.
Who is Jeff Mauro?
Jeff Mauro was born in 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. Not much is known about Mauro’s childhood, but the celebrity chef attended Bradley University in Illinois and studied radio and television. He graduated from the university in 2000.
Although Mauro has participated in several cooking shows, his most notable appearance was on Food Network Star. On the show, the participants were pitted against each other to determine who would go home with a cooking show.
The show consisted of 15 participants, and Mauro was one of them. For many chefs, food competitions provide them with a chance to display their prowess at several dishes.
For Mauro, however, his primary focus was on sandwiches. Mauro believed that sandwiches were an incredible meal, and they don’t get the attention they deserve. He, therefore, worked on improving his sandwiches with every episode.
Soon he became a fan-favorite on the show due to his great sense of humor. The judges found his likable persona incredibly charming. Mauro rejected any criticisms he got about how he couldn’t come up with enough ways to make his sandwich focus last throughout the season.
Mauro, however, proved his critics wrong and ended up winning that season on Food Network Star. His prize was his highly popular show, Sandwich King.
‘Sandwich King’ and Jeff Mauro’s other popular shows
Mauro’s first show Sandwich King aired on August 21, 2011. The Chicago native uses his hometown as an inspiration for his sandwich meals. Mauro believes that any sandwich can be turned into a meal, and any meal can easily become a sandwich.
The Sandwich King is immensely popular on the Food Network because of Mauro’s humor injection in each episode and his larger-than-life personality. In the show, Mauro walks his viewers through the stages of making a delicious sandwich while still throwing in some one-liners for his fans to catch.
Although sandwiches may seem like an easy meal to make, Mauro’s recipes are more complex and involve various ingredients. Mauro’s show the Sandwich King even got nominated for a Daytime Emmy award in 2012, but the award went to Bobby Flay’s show Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction.
Mauro joined an incredible lineup of chefs in 2014 to co-host the show The Kitchen alongside chefs Alex Guarschanelli, Geoffrey Zakarian, and Katie Lee.
He also has another show called $24 in 24, which follows the star chef around as he tours different cities in the country with $24 for him to spend on three meals for one day.
Why Mauro is done with food competition shows
As mentioned above, food competition shows have helped some chefs skyrocket to fame. Mauro makes the list of chefs who got their big break with food competition shows on Food Network. However, Mauro isn’t impressed with the competitions at all.
Speaking to PopSugar, Mauro stated that he would never participate in food competition shows again because he has never had any luck with winning.
“I’m done with food competition shows. I lost every single one except Food Network Star,” he said.
Seeing how well he is doing for himself currently, he might not need to appear on any other food competition shows.
