Tiffani Faison facts for kids
Tiffani Faison, Top Chef All-Stars
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| Born | Bremerhaven, Germany |
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| Education | Cambridge Culinary Institute |
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Current restaurant(s)
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Previous restaurant(s)
Tenderoni's Fenway, Boston (2022–2024) |
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Television show(s)
Top Chef: San Francisco
Top Chef: All-Stars Top Chef Duels Chopped Tournament of Champions |
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Tiffani Faison is a famous American celebrity chef and restaurant owner. She lives and works in Boston. She has been a judge on the Food Network TV show Chopped. Tiffani has also been nominated four times for the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Northeast (in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022).
She won Season 3 of the TV show Tournament of Champions. In 2022, Boston Magazine named her Boston's Best Chef. Tiffani was also one of the top two chefs on the very first season of Bravo's reality show Top Chef. She finished in second place. Her company, Big Heart Hospitality, owns several restaurants. These include Sweet Cheeks Q, Orfano, Fool's Errand, Bubble Bath, Tenderoni's, Dive Bar, and Tiger Mama.
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Early Career as a Chef
Tiffani Faison studied cooking at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts from 2002 to 2003. Before she appeared on Top Chef, she worked as a chef at a very fancy restaurant. This restaurant was run by famous chef Daniel Boulud in Las Vegas. She also worked at the Tao restaurant in Las Vegas.
After her first time on Top Chef in 2006, Tiffani cooked at the Straight Wharf restaurant in Nantucket, Massachusetts. In 2007, she became the main chef (called an executive chef) at Riche, a restaurant in New Orleans. In May 2007, Tiffani helped host a cooking trip to the Greek Isles. Later, she returned to Boston and was the executive chef at Rocca Kitchen & Bar. This restaurant was popular until it closed in 2010.
TV Show Appearances
Tiffani Faison became well-known after she placed second on the first season of Top Chef. She then competed in a special cooking show called 4 Star All Stars. In this show, chefs from season one competed against chefs from season two. Tiffani's team won and gave $20,000 to a charity. This episode aired on Bravo in June 2007.
Tiffani also won $20,000 in the Top Chef Holiday Special in December 2007. She returned as a contestant on season 8 of Top Chef but left the show in the sixth episode. Tiffani also finished second in the Top Chef Duels competition in 2014.
Since 2020, Tiffani Faison has been a judge on the show Chopped. She also competed in a Chopped: Beat the Judge episode. She made it to the finals of Chopped: Grudge Match, where she placed second.
In 2021, Tiffani competed in Food Network's Tournament of Champions. In 2022, she returned to the show and won Season 3 of Tournament of Champions. She beat Brooke Williamson in the final round. She also served as a judge on Chopped: Casino Royale. Tiffani has appeared as a cooking guest on national TV shows like NBC TODAY and America's Test Kitchen.
Restaurants and Culinary Work
Tiffani Faison is the owner and head chef of Sweet Cheeks Q. This restaurant serves Texas-style barbecue in Boston's Fenway area. It opened in late 2011 and was her first restaurant. Sweet Cheeks Q has been named Boston's Best Barbecue by many local and national news groups. Forbes magazine even wrote that its biscuits were "the best in the world."
In December 2015, she opened her popular restaurant, Tiger Mama, also in Fenway. This restaurant focused on food from Southeast Asia. Tiffani closed Tiger Mama in October 2021 to open a new restaurant in the same spot. Tenderoni's, a pizza place, opened there in November 2022. It closed permanently in June 2024.
In February 2018, Tiffani opened her third Fenway restaurant, Fool's Errand. This place is called an "Adult Snack Bar." Her restaurant Orfano opened in August 2019 and served Italian-American food. It received a great review from The Boston Globe. Orfano closed in June 2022. In 2022, Tiffani Faison opened three more places: Tenderoni's, Dive Bar, and Bubble Bath. These are located inside High Street Place, a new food hall in Downtown Boston.
Her Restaurants
Open Now
- Sweet Cheeks Q (2011–present), Boston, Massachusetts
- Fool's Errand (February 2018–present), Boston, Massachusetts
- Bubble Bath (March 2022–present), inside High Street Place, Boston, Massachusetts
- Tenderoni's (March 2022–present), inside High Street Place, Boston, Massachusetts
- Dive Bar (March 2022–present), inside High Street Place, Boston, Massachusetts
Closed Restaurants
- Tiger Mama (December 2015–October 2021), Boston, Massachusetts
- Orfano (August 2019–June 2022), Boston, Massachusetts
- Tenderoni's Fenway (November 2022–June 2024), Boston, Massachusetts
About Tiffani's Life
Tiffani Faison was born in Bremerhaven, Germany. Her parents were American, and her father was in the United States military there. Her family moved several times when she was a child. By the time she was in high school, they settled in Santa Rosa, California.
In high school, Tiffani started volunteering for organizations that help people. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Women Chefs & Restaurateurs. She also works with The Boston Alliance of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Youth.
In September 2019, she was chosen to be part of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Restaurant Promotion Commission. This was because of her strong dedication to the state's restaurant business.
Awards and Honors
- James Beard Foundation, Nominee, Best Chef: Northeast (2022)
- James Beard Foundation, Nominee, Best Chef: Northeast (2020)
- James Beard Foundation, Nominee, Best Chef: Northeast (2019)
- James Beard Foundation, Nominee, Best Chef: Northeast (2018)
- Boston Magazine, Best Chef: Boston (2016)
