Jeffrey Saad

Jeffrey Saad was runner-up on season five of The Next Food Network Star, where he won viewers over with his easygoing personality and "cooking without borders" style, which uses flavorful and often unexpected ingredients to achieve simple, delicious dishes in no time. Since the show, Jeffrey has spent time cultivating his global cooking style by creating unique and flavor-filled recipes. Jeffrey's easy-to-follow style reflects the attitude of many of today's home cooks, who want to provide diverse, tasty, and nutritious meals to their families yet demand simple recipes, affordable and easily available ingredients and a no-fuss approach.

Food Network gave him the opportunity to host his own web series called Spice Smuggler following The Next Food Network Star, then he went on to host the show United Tastes of America on the Cooking Channel. He has also appeared on Chopped All-Stars, Grill It! with Bobby Flay, The Rachael Ray Show, Iron Chef America Countdown and ABC World News Now.

Jeffrey released his first cookbook titled Jeffrey Saad's Global Kitchen: Recipes Without Borders and opened his own restaurant, La Ventura, in California in 2013.

Jeffrey began his food career working in a Chicago diner at the age of 13. He decided at that moment that he would open restaurants and food would be his life. Jeffrey was formally trained as a chef at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York as well as the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, California. Jeffrey also opened three locations of his Sweet Heat Mexican restaurants in San Francisco and became a partner in Pasta Pomodoro Italian restaurants, which currently has more than 30 locations throughout California.