The Best Thing I Ever Ate

Contributing chefs/hosts

Ted Allen - Food and wine connoisseur; host of Chopped

Sunny Anderson - Host of Cooking For Real; co-host of The Kitchen

Mario Batali - Former Iron Chef, Iron Chef America; chef/owner of Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca; host of Molto Mario and Ciao America; former co-host, ABC's The Chew

Valerie Bertinelli - Actress; host of Valerie's Home Cooking

John Besh - Competitor on The Next Iron Chef; chef and owner of August Restaurant (New Orleans, Louisiana)

Elena Besser - Chef/TV host; contributor to Food Network Kitchen

Richard Blais - Chef/Restaurateur; judge on many Food Network competition shows

Brian Boitano - Olympic figure skater and host of What Would Brian Boitano Make?

Stephanie Boswell - Executive Pastry Chef, Peninsula Beverly Hills; judge on Halloween Baking Championship and Halloween Wars

James Briscione - Culinary Director at Institute of Culinary Education; First ever two-time Chopped Champion

Alton Brown - Host of Good Eats, "Cutthroat Kitchen" and Iron Chef America, and author of Good Eats 2: The Middle Years

Kardea Brown - Chef and host of Delicious Miss Brown

Frank Bruni - Former restaurant critic for New York Times; author of Born Round

Justin Brunson - Chef/restaurateur; Owner at River Bear American Meats in Denver, CO

Anne Burrell - Sous chef on Iron Chef America; host of Secrets of a Restaurant Chef; co-host of Worst Cooks in America

Josh Capon - Executive chef at New York City's Lure Fishbar; guest judge on Chopped and Beat Bobby Flay

Monti Carlo - Chef instructor/recipe developer; food blogger at islandgirlcooks.com

Cody and Samantha Carroll - Louisiana Chefs; co-hosts of Food Network's Cajun Aces owners/operators of Hot Tails in New Roads, LA

Michael Chiarello - Entrepreneur/restaurateur, and host of Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello

Hannah Chloe- Host of Spoon University's SpoonProof

Scott Conant - Host of 24 Hour Restaurant Battle, and chef/owner of Scarpetta (New York/Miami/Toronto/Beverly Hills) and D.O.C.G. Enoteca (Las Vegas)

Cat Cora - Former Iron Chef, Iron Chef America

Melissa d'Arabian - The Next Food Network Star Season 5 winner, and host of Ten Dollar Dinners

Mark Dacascos - Martial artist/actor; "The Chairman" on Iron Chef America

Paula Deen - Host of Paula's Home Cooking, Paula's Best Dishes, and Paula's Party

Giada De Laurentiis - Host of Everyday Italian and Giada at Home; TV judge/mentor on The Next Food Network Star

Rocco DiSpirito - Chef/author of Now Eat This! Diet; winner of James Beard Award

Guy Fieri - Winner of Season 2 of Food Network Star; host of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and Guy's Big Bite, and chef/owner of Johnny Garlic's and Tex Wasabi's (California)

Bobby Flay - Former Iron Chef, Iron Chef America; co-host/mentor of The Next Food Network Star and Throwdown! with Bobby Flay, chef/owner of Mesa Grills in New York, Las Vegas and Bahamas

Tregaye Fraser - Winner of Season 12 of Food Network Star & host of Discovery+'s Tregaye's Way in the Kitchen

Tyler Florence - Host of The Great Food Truck Race and Tyler's Ultimate

Ina Garten - Host of Barefoot Contessa

Gabriella Gershenson - TV judge on 24 Hour Restaurant Battle, senior editor Saveur Magazine

Adam Gertler - Host of Kid in a Candy Store

Duff Goldman - Pastry chef/owner of Charm City Cakes, and host of Ace of Cakes and Sugar High

Alex Guarnaschelli - Chef/host on Alex's Day Off; Iron Chef on "Iron Chef America"; TV judge on Chopped; executive chef of Butter Restaurant (New York)

Carla Hall - Chef/TV personality/former model; former co-host of ABC's The Chew

Robert Irvine - Host of Dinner: Impossible and Restaurant: Impossible; co-host of seasons 2 & 14 of Worst Cooks in America

Eddie Jackson - Season 11 winner of Food Network Star; host of BBQ Blitz

Pati Jinich - Chef & Host of Pati's Mexican Table

Judy Joo - TV judge The Next Iron Chef, Iron Chef UK, executive chef Playboy Club (London)

Kristen Kish - Chef/TV Host; winner of Season 10 of Top Chef; host of 36 Hours on Travel Channel and co-host of Fast Foodies on TruTV

Ali Khan - Food blogger; host of Cheap Eats

Dan Kohler - Culinary Anthropologist/Food Nerd; contributor to Cooking Channel's Food: Fact or Fiction?

Ellie Krieger - Host of Healthy Appetite

Emeril Lagasse - Host on Essence of Emeril and Emeril Live

Dan Langan - Baker/Blogger; Host, Dan Can Bake on Food Network Digital

Nigella Lawson - Host on Nigella's Kitchen

Katie Lee - Cookbook author/food critic; co-host of The Kitchen

Sandra Lee - host on Semi-Homemade Cooking and Sandra's Money Saving Meals

Shinmin Li - Pastry Chef/Cake Artist; judge on Food Network's Cookie Wars and Halloween Wars

Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir - Champion Figure Skaters; co-hosts of Wedding Cake Championship

Antonia Lofaso - Chef/restaurateur; judge on Iron Chef America, Guy's Grocery Games et al.

Sabin Lomac - Chef/TV Host; co-founder of Cousins Maine Lobster; host of Grill of Victory

Beau MacMillan - Executive Chef, elements in Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain in Arizona

Simon Majumdar - TV judge on The Next Iron Chef and "Iron Chef America" et al.; author of Eat My Globe

Jeff Mauro - Season 7 winner of Food Network Star; host of Sandwich King and co-host of The Kitchen

Brad Miller - Chef; host of Food Truck Nation on Food Network

Brandi Milloy - Co-host of Let's Eat on Food Network; best known for the YouTube series POPSUGAR Food: Eat the Trend

Roger Mooking - Chef/musician; host of Man Fire Food

Marc Murphy - Chef/Restaurateur; Judge on Chopped

Pat Neely and Gina Neely - Hosts Down Home with the Neelys

Candace Nelson - TV judge Cupcake Wars, founder Sprinkles Cupcakes (Los Angeles, California)

Stuart O'Keeffe - Co-host of Let's Eat on Food Network; best known for his appearance on the Food Network's Private Chefs of Beverly Hills

Jamie Oliver - Host of Naked Chef and Jamie at Home

Tom Papa - Comedian/Baker; host of Sirius XM's Come to Papa

Lorraine Pascale - Chef/Former Model; Judge on Food Network's Baking Championships & judge on/host of Bakers Vs. Fakers

Jamika Pessoa - Chef/Businesswoman; "Caterer to the Stars"

Katie Pix - Chef/YouTube host; YouTube Channel:YouTube Channel

Michael Psilakis - TV judge on Ultimate Recipe Showdown, chef/owner Kefi (New York)

Wolfgang Puck - Chef and owner of Spago (Los Angeles); former Iron Chef on Iron Chef America: Battle of the Masters

Courtney Rada - stand-up comedian; host of Carnivorous on Food Network

Rachael Ray - Host of 30 Minute Meals and $40 a Day

Claire Robinson - Host of 5 Ingredient Fix

Marcus Samuelsson - Chef/restaurateur; frequent judge on Chopped

Aarón Sánchez - Co-host on Chefs vs. City; TV judge on Chopped; executive chef/owner of Centrico (New York)

Claudia Sandoval - Chef/Cookbook Author; Winner of Season 6 of MasterChef

Jonathon Sawyer - James Beard Award-Winning Chef; owner of three Cleveland restaurants, including the Greenhouse Tavern

Aarti Sequeira - Season 6 winner of Food Network Star; host of Aarti Party and Taste in Translation

Donal Skehan - Food Writer/Singer; host of Food Channel UK's Follow Donal and co-presenter/judge on BBC's Junior MasterChef

Fanny Slater - Cookbook Author; regular contributor to The Rachael Ray Show

Jason Smith - Season 3 Holiday Baking Championship winner and Season 13 Food Network Star Winner

Martha Stewart - Writer/businesswoman; host of Martha Stewart Living

Curtis Stone - Celebrity chef; author of Relaxed Cooking With Curtis Stone

Marc Summers - Host on Unwrapped; host/judge on Ultimate Recipe Showdown

Michael Symon - Iron Chef, Iron Chef America; former co-host of ABC's The Chew; chef/owner Lola Lolita (Cleveland, Ohio)

Anne Thornton - Chef/host of Dessert First with Anne Thornton

Jet Tila - Chef & restaurateur; floor reporter for Iron Chef America

Isaac Toups - Chef/Restaurateur; voted Fan Favorite on Top Chef: California

Nguyen Tran - Food Writer/Restaurateur; owner of Starry Kitchen in Los Angeles, CA

Ming Tsai - Host of "Simply Ming", chef/owner Blue Ginger (Wellesley, Massachusetts), Blue Dragon (Boston, Massachusetts)

Justin Warner - Winner of Food Network Star Season 8; author of The Laws of Cooking: And How to Break Them

Bev Weidner - Food Blogger; Host, Mom Wins on Food Network Digital

Jernard Wells - Chef/cookbook author; 1st-Runner-Up in season 12 of Food Network Star

Lee Anne Wong - Former culinary producer for Seasons 2-5 of Top Chef; owner/operator of Koko Head Café in Honolulu, HI

Buddy Valastro - Owner/operator of Carlo's Bake Shop; star of Cake Boss

Marcela Valladolid - Host of Mexican Made Easy; former co-host of The Kitchen

Fabio Viviani - Chef/Vintner/Restaurateur; "Fan Favorite" winner on season 5 of Top Chef

Casey Webb - Restaurateur; Host, Man v. Food on Cooking Channel

Molly Yeh—Host of Food Network's Girl Meets Farm

Andrew Zimmern - Host of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern on Travel Channel

Switch to The Cooking Channel and Season 7

The original broadcast of The Best Thing I Ever Ate, Seasons 1–6, were on The Food Network from 2009 to 2011. In 2018, the show switched to The Cooking Channel. Season 7 did not have any new restaurants. Rather, episodes were compilations from the previous 6 seasons. Episodes were based on cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York, with the previous restaurants from those cities featured in each episode.

Starting with Season 8, episodes would consist of new restaurants and food items, with a mix of old and new contributors.

Season 9

This season was a mix of "compilation" episodes (with footage from seasons 1–6) and newly produced episodes. Compilation episodes are so marked and do not have a segment listing.

Season 10

Episode 4 was the only "compilation" episode this season (see Season 9 above), and as such has no segment listing.

Seasons 12 and 13

According to the Cooking Channel website, episodes for seasons 12 and 13 have been produced and aired, presumably in 2021 and 2022, respectively. However, as of 2024, these episodes have not been posted to the Max service (current streaming service for Discovery networks), and only selected episodes of season 12 are available through their FOOD NETWORK GO and COOKING CHANNEL GO services.

All-Star Best Thing I Ever Ate

In 2020, the Food Network aired an eight-episode hour-long series spin-off of the show entitled All-Star Best Thing I Ever Ate, featuring the network's biggest chefs sharing both their favorite foods & locations along with some of their own recipes fitting the given subject. Episodes consisted of newly recorded segments and reused footage from both older episodes and (in the case of the "CHEF'S RECIPE" entries below) the presenters' cooking shows.