Food Network Trivia
0Loading crowd target
0Loading crowd target
7correct to beat the crowd
100 free Food Network trivia questions with answers — food & drink quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Food Network trivia for anyone who has ever fallen asleep to Chopped reruns. The quiz covers the channel itself, from its 1993 launch as TV Food Network with Emeril, Jacques Pepin and Robin Leach to the Cooking Channel spin-off, and the stars who built it: Emeril's "Bam!", Bobby Flay's Iron Chef record, Guy Fieri winning Next Food Network Star and driving off in a Camaro, Ina Garten's nuclear-budget past, Alton Brown's Good Eats, Rachael Ray's EVOO, Giada, Paula Deen, Ree Drummond and Sandra Lee's 70/30 rule. The show rounds cover Chopped's mystery baskets and Ted Allen, Iron Chef America's Kitchen Stadium and the Chairman, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Beat Bobby Flay, Cutthroat Kitchen's sabotage auctions, Guy's Tournament of Champions and its Randomizer, Ace of Cakes, Worst Cooks in America and Semi-Homemade. Easy questions for casual viewers, harder ones on dates, hometowns and formats for the people who plan dinner around the schedule. Every answer has been checked against the Wikipedia articles on the network, its programmes and its personalities, and each question shows its source once you have answered.
30 of 100 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In what year did Food Network launch, originally as TV Food Network?
1993
1993 is the launch year: TV Food Network went on the air on November 23, 1993, and shortened its name to Food Network a few years later.
Q 02Which CNN co-founder was hired to build and launch Food Network?
Reese Schonfeld
Reese Schonfeld, who co-founded CNN with Ted Turner in 1980, was the executive hired to build and launch TV Food Network in the early 1990s.
Q 03Which spin-off did Food Network launch in 2010?
Cooking Channel
Cooking Channel launched on May 31, 2010, taking over the channel space of Fine Living Network with a schedule built on instructional cooking shows.
Q 04Which company owned Food Network in 2024?
Warner Bros. Discovery
Scripps Networks Interactive owned it until merging with Discovery in 2018; Discovery became Warner Bros. Discovery in 2022.
Q 05Which two catchphrases are associated with Emeril Lagasse?
"Bam!" and "Kick it up a notch!"
Emeril Lagasse's "Bam!" and "Kick it up a notch!" were the signature shouts of his live shows; "Yum-o!" belongs to Rachael Ray and "How easy is that?" to Ina Garten.
Q 06In which Massachusetts city was Emeril Lagasse born?
Fall River
Emeril Lagasse was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, on October 15, 1959, and worked in a local Portuguese bakery as a teenager before studying at Johnson & Wales.
Q 07Which late-1990s show with a studio audience and house band became the network's signature series?
Emeril Live
Emeril Live premiered in January 1997 with a studio audience and a house band, and its nightly prime-time run made Emeril Lagasse the network's biggest star of the decade.
Q 08Which early Food Network show paired Bobby Flay with country-cooking chef Jack McDavid?
Grillin' & Chillin'
Grillin' & Chillin', a mid-1990s Food Network series, set 'city' chef Bobby Flay against 'country' chef Jack McDavid, owner of the Down Home Diner, in one of Flay's first shows.
Q 09Bobby Flay was in the first graduating class of which cooking school in 1984?
The French Culinary Institute
The French Culinary Institute opened in 1984 and Bobby Flay was in its first graduating class; the restaurateur he worked for paid the tuition.
Q 10How is it decided who gets to face Bobby in round two of Beat Bobby Flay?
Two chefs cook with an ingredient he picks and guests choose one
Two chefs cook with an ingredient he picks and guests choose one; that winner then cooks their own signature dish against Flay, who must beat them at their own specialty.
Q 11Which competition did Guy Fieri win in 2006 to get his start on the channel?
Next Food Network Star
Guy Fieri won season two of Next Food Network Star in 2006, beating Reggie Southerland in the finale; the prize was a six-episode series, Guy's Big Bite.
Q 12What was Guy Fieri's surname at birth?
Ferry
Ferry was the family name: Guy Ramsay Ferry changed it to Fieri in 1995 to honor his grandfather Giuseppe Fieri, who had anglicized it after emigrating from Italy.
Q 13What is the nickname of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives?
Triple D
Triple D is the shorthand for Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, which began as a one-off special in November 2006 and became a weekly series in April 2007.
Q 21Which actor and martial artist played the Chairman on Iron Chef America?
Mark Dacascos
Mark Dacascos, a martial arts champion turned action-film actor, played the Chairman, written as the nephew of Japan's Chairman Kaga and sent to open an American Kitchen Stadium.
Q 22Where was Iron Chef America's permanent Kitchen Stadium built?
Chelsea Market in New York
Chelsea Market in New York houses Food Network's studios, where the permanent Kitchen Stadium was built after the 2004 Battle of the Masters specials had been shot in Los Angeles.
Q 23Who was the commentator and credited host of Iron Chef America?
Alton Brown
Q 14What was the name of the first restaurant Guy Fieri opened, in Santa Rosa in 1996?
Johnny Garlic's
Johnny Garlic's, a California pasta grill Fieri opened with partner Steve Gruber in Santa Rosa in 1996, came first; Tex Wasabi's, a barbecue-and-sushi place, followed later.
Q 15What is the slot-machine device Guy Fieri spins on Tournament of Champions called?
The Randomizer
The Randomizer's five reels set the protein, produce, equipment, style and time limit for each battle, after which the dishes are judged blind.
Q 16Who won the first Tournament of Champions, held in 2020?
Brooke Williamson
Brooke Williamson beat Amanda Freitag in the 2020 final and then won again in 2021, making her the first two-time Tournament of Champions winner.
Q 17Who hosted Chopped when it launched in 2009?
Ted Allen
Ted Allen was the food and wine expert on Bravo's Queer Eye before Chopped launched in 2009.
Q 18How much does the winner of a standard episode of Chopped receive?
$10,000
$10,000 is the prize for the last chef standing in a regular Chopped episode, while Chopped Champions tournaments raise the stakes to $50,000.
Q 19How many mystery ingredients are in each Chopped basket?
4
Each basket holds 4 mystery ingredients, all of which must appear on the plate; the appetizer round allows 20 minutes and the entree and dessert rounds 30 each.
Q 20Which Chopped judge hosted the dessert spin-off Chopped Sweets when it premiered in 2020?
Scott Conant
Scott Conant fronted Chopped Sweets, which premiered in February 2020.
Alton Brown called the action from the commentary booth and was the credited host, while Kevin Brauch worked the floor; unlike in Japan, the Chairman did not host.
Q 24On which Japanese TV network did the original Iron Chef premiere?
Fuji Television
Fuji Television premiered Iron Chef, known in Japan as Ryori no Tetsujin, and ran it until 1999; Chairman Kaga opened each battle with the cry 'Allez cuisine!'.
Q 25What was Ina Garten's job before she bought a specialty food store in 1978?
White House budget analyst
Ina Garten was a White House budget analyst in the Office of Management and Budget when she saw an ad for the 400-square-foot Barefoot Contessa store in Westhampton Beach and bought it.
Q 26The Barefoot Contessa store Ina Garten bought was named after what?
A 1954 film starring Ava Gardner
A 1954 film starring Ava Gardner, The Barefoot Contessa, gave the store its name; Garten kept it for her 1999 cookbook and the TV show that launched in 2002.
Q 27What is the name of Ina Garten's husband, a fixture on Barefoot Contessa?
Jeffrey
Jeffrey Garten, later a Yale management professor, met Ina when she was 15 on a visit to her brother at Dartmouth; they married in 1968.
Q 28Its creator said Good Eats was inspired by combining a famous TV chef, Mr. Wizard and what?
Monty Python
Monty Python completes the formula the show's creator gave for Good Eats: the cooking of a famous TV chef, the science of Mr. Wizard and the comedy of Monty Python.
Q 29The creator of Good Eats worked as cinematographer on the video for which R.E.M. song?
The One I Love
The One I Love (1987) had the future Good Eats creator as its cinematographer; he shot music videos and commercials in Atlanta before enrolling at the New England Culinary Institute.
Q 30How much money is each chef given at the start of Cutthroat Kitchen?
$25,000
$25,000 goes to each of the four chefs at the start; they bid it away in the host's sabotage auctions, and the last chef standing keeps whatever is left.