Eric Adjepong | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Education | Johnson & Wales University, University of Westminster |
| Known for | Celebrity chef, television personality, author |
| Spouse | Janell Mack (divorced) |
| Children | 1 |
| Website | chefadjepong |
Eric Adjepong is an American chef, television personality, and author. He was a finalist on the television series Top Chef: Kentucky season 16. [1] [2] [3] He has appeared on multiple Food Network television shows, including as host of Alex vs. America. [1] [4]
Eric Adjepong was born and raised in the Bronx neighborhood in New York City and is of Ghanaian descent. [5] [6] [7] He was the first member of his family to be born outside of Ghana, his parents immigrated to the United States in the 1980s. [8] [9]
He has a degree in culinary arts and nutrition from Johnson & Wales University, and a master’s of public health degree in international public health nutrition from the University of Westminster. [10]
Adjepong married Janell Mack in 2016, and together they have a daughter. [11] [12]
Adjepong's culinary interest are in the American South, West African, Caribbean, and South American cuisines. [6] [13] He co-owns with his wife Janell, "Pinch and Plate" in Washington, D.C., a catering company which also hosts pop-up meals. [13] [8]
In 2018, Adjepong made it to the Top Chef: Kentucky finale, where he competed against two other chefs: Kelsey Barnard Clark of Alabama, and Sara Bradley of Kentucky. [13] He ambitiously announced his meal for the series finale would, “tell the story of the transatlantic slave trade and how those flavors migrated to the South”, which highlighted both underrepresented cuisine and history. [13] [14]
After becoming a finalist on season 16 of Top Chef: Kentucky, Adjepong competed on season 17 of Top Chef: All-Stars L.A. [15] and several other Food Network shows, like Guy Fieri's Tournament of Champions. [5] He has been a food competition judge on the television series, the Great Soul Food Cook-Off, Supermarket Stakeout , Guy's Grocery Games , Beat Bobby Flay , and Chopped. [5]
In 2020, he had plans to open a counter service restaurant called "On the Double" in the Union Market food hall, [16] however it was greatly delayed. [17]
Since January 2022, Adjepong is the host of Alex vs. America, a Food Network show on its third season starring chef Alex Guarnaschelli competing against a series of guest chefs with a focus on a single culinary genre. [4] [18]
Martin Yan is a Chinese-American chef and food writer. He has hosted his award-winning PBS-TV cooking show Yan Can Cook since 1982.
Iron Chef America is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's Iron Chef, and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed Iron Chef USA that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, which also carried a dubbed version of the original Iron Chef. Like the original Japanese program, the program is a culinary game show. In each episode, a new challenger chef competes against one of the resident "Iron Chefs" in a one-hour cooking competition based on a secret ingredient or ingredients, and sometimes theme.
Rocco DiSpirito is an American chef and reality television personality based in New York City, known for starring in the series The Restaurant.
Eric Ripert is a French chef, author, and television personality specializing in modern French cuisine and noted for his work with seafood.
Vikas Khanna is an Indian chef, restaurateur, cookbook writer, filmmaker and humanitarian. He is one of the judges of MasterChef India since its beginning. He is based in New York City.
George Duran is an Armenian-American chef and entertainer who is currently a spokesman in commercials for Hunt's tomatoes. He also became host of TLC's Ultimate Cake Off in its second season.
Ilan D. Hall is an American chef, television personality, and restaurateur. He won the second season of Top Chef, and is owner-chef of Ramen Hood in Los Angeles.
Emeril John Lagasse III is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality, cookbook author, and National Best Recipe award winner for his "Turkey and Hot Sausage Chili" recipe in 2003. He is a regional James Beard Award winner, known for his mastery of Creole and Cajun cuisine and his self-developed "New New Orleans" style. He is of Portuguese descent on his mother's side, while being of French heritage through his father.
The Next Iron Chef is a limited-run series on the Food Network that aired its fifth season in 2012. Each season is a stand-alone competition to select a chef to be designated an Iron Chef, who will appear on the Food Network program Iron Chef America.
Richard Blais is an American chef, television personality, restaurateur, and author. He appeared on the reality show cooking show Top Chef, and is known for his take on classic American cuisine. Blais was the runner-up for the fourth season of Top Chef and returned several seasons later to win Top Chef: All-Stars.
Michael Voltaggio is an American chef, restaurateur, and author. He is a Top Chef television series alum and the winner of season 6. His brother Bryan Voltaggio is also a celebrity chef. He resides in Los Angeles, California.
Thierry Rautureau, nicknamed The Chef in the Hat, was a French-American celebrity chef based in Seattle, Washington. He was also the chef and owner of several former restaurants, including Loulay and Luc, but entered "semi-retired" following his restaurants' difficulties with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Geoffrey Zakarian is an American chef, restaurateur, television personality, and author. He is the executive chef of several restaurants in New York City, Atlantic City, and Miami. He is featured on several television shows on the Food Network, including Chopped and The Next Iron Chef. In 2011, on The Next Iron Chef he won an opportunity to join Iron Chef America.
Vikram Vij is an Indian-born Canadian chef, cookbook author, and television personality. He is the owner, of the Indian cuisine restaurants Vij's and Rangoli Restaurant in Vancouver, British Columbia. He also owns My Shanti, a restaurant in South Surrey, BC which he closed in 2024. In 2014, Vij was announced as a new "dragon" investor on the Canadian reality show Dragons' Den for its ninth season and departed at the end of the season.
Kristen Kish is an American chef known for winning the tenth season of Top Chef. She was formerly chef de cuisine at Menton in Fort Point, Boston. She became the host of Top Chef starting with season 21, Top Chef: Wisconsin. She is also the host of 36 Hours on Travel Channel, a co-host of Fast Foodies on TruTV, a co-host of Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend, and host of National Geographic’s Restaurants at the End of the World.
Ranveer Singh Brar is an Indian celebrity chef, Masterchef India judge, author, restaurateur and actor. He is well known as the host of popular Television food shows, actor and as a judge in MasterChef India, alongside fellow chefs Sanjeev Kapoor, Vikas Khanna, Vineet Bhatia, Garima Arora and Pooja Dhingra After graduating from the top hospitality institute in Lucknow, Brar stepped into a successful culinary career, now spanning more than nearly three decades.
Edward Lee is a Brooklyn-born celebrity chef, author and restaurateur. He has made numerous television appearances on shows including The Mind of a Chef and Top Chef as well as a judge on Gordon Ramsay's Culinary Genius. He is a nine-time James Beard Award nominee, owns multiple restaurants throughout the United States and the Caribbean, and is the author of two award-winning books Buttermilk Graffiti and Smoke and Pickles.
Mei Lin is a Chinese-born American chef and television personality, best known as the winner of the twelfth season of the Bravo television network's reality television series, Top Chef. After winning Top Chef in 2014, Lin worked as a personal chef for Oprah Winfrey before going on to open her first restaurant, Nightshade in Los Angeles in 2019. She became engaged to her fiancé Andrew Skala on January 14, 2023. On April 9, 2023, Lin won the fourth season of Food Network's Tournament of Champions.
The ninth season of the Canadian reality television series Top Chef Canada and was first broadcast on Food Network. The new season was first announced by Food Network Canada on March 31, 2021. The season was filmed in Toronto, Ontario and the finale was shot at the Four Seasons hotel in the city's downtown core. Season nine features 11 chefs of various backgrounds considered to be the next generation of culinary stars in Canada.
first person in my immediate family to be born outside of Ghana. My parents arrived in New York City in the late 1980s