Jeffrey Saad
(born c. 1967) is an
American
chef, author, restaurant owner, television personality, and real estate broker from
Chicago, Illinois
. He is currently the host of
United Tastes of America
on the
Cooking Channel
and Estate Director with
Compass
in Beverly Hills.
[2]
Career
[
edit
]
Saad became interested in the culinary business when he was a teenager working at a diner behind his junior high school. Later in his life, he enrolled in the Hotel Restaurant Management Program at
Iowa State University
. There he earned the title of
chef de cuisine
during his
sophomore
year. He continued studies at the
Culinary Institute of America
and the
California Culinary Academy
. He performed his internship in
London
, with
Anton Mosimann
.
[3]
In 1993 Saad traveled to
Mexico
looking to expand his knowledge of the
Mexican cuisine
. This led him to open a Mexican-influenced restaurant called Sweet Heat in
San Francisco
. After that, he opened two more restaurants and started his own signature line of bottled
chutneys
. Among his culinary and business ventures, he became a partner of California's Pasta Pomodoro Italian Restaurants. After that, Saad moved to
Los Angeles
with his wife and they both started running a
real estate
company.
In 2009 Saad auditioned for the fifth season of the show
The Next Food Network Star
. He ended up as the first runner-up, losing to
Melissa d'Arabian
in the finale.
[4]
However,
Food Network
gave him the opportunity to host his own web series called
Spice Smuggler
, where he highlighted spices and foods from other countries.
[5]
The web series ran for a year, and then
Cooking Channel
asked him to be the host of the show
United Tastes of America
.
Saad is a partner and executive chef of "The Grove" restaurants in San Francisco. He also distributes his own collection of spice blends. In 2012, Saad released his first cookbook titled
Jeffrey Saad's Global Kitchen: Recipes Without Borders
.
[6]
On December 9, 2013, he opened the restaurant, La Ventura in Studio City, California.
[7]
[8]
Television appearances
[
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]
In addition to his own shows, Saad has appeared on these other cooking shows:
In 2012 he competed in
Food Network
's
Chopped All-Stars
. Saad ended up in second place, behind
Marcus Samuelsson
, but above chefs like
Keegan Gerhard
,
Aarti Sequeira
, and
Michael Symon
.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Saad lives in
Los Angeles
with his wife, Nadia, and two children. His wife is of
Iranian
descent. Saad enjoys surfing and mountain biking. He also practices
taekwondo
. He began practicing it while studying in college, and reached
black belt
under Master Brandt in
San Francisco
. He also practiced at the Southern California Tae Kwon Do Center under Scot Lewis where he received his second degree black belt.
[9]
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]
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Seasons
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Winners (series)
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Other contestants
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Spin-off
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