Che Spiotta

Che Theo Spiotta was born in Manhattan on March 30, 2006 to Elizabethanne and Jason Spiotta Growing up in Long Island Che's love and passion for culinary began at the age of 3 and a half when he used to watch his father cook authentic Italian meals and classic Italian dishes at his Brooklyn home. Since the age of 4, Che has been watching shows on The Food Network, studying cookbooks, practicing savory as well as baking pastry/baking desserts recipes, experimenting by putting his own unique, gluten-free twists, sharpening his knife skills since the age of 5. In July 2012, Che was diagnosed with a gluten allergy at the age of 6. On August 20, 2015, his father Jason tragically passed away. Che was heartbroken, saddened and grief-stricken to the core but also driven to keep his legacy & dream alive, knowing he had big shoes to fill on the road ahead. In July 2017, Elizabethanne discovered that casting call tryouts were open for FOX's unscripted culinary competition kids show "MasterChef Junior" featuring British celebrity chef & restaurateur Gordon Ramsay coaching and training American elementary and middle school youngsters aged 8-13. During November/December of 2017, Che auditioned in New York City to compete on for the show's 7th season, originally filmed and taped from early April 2018 until mid-June 2018. It aired on FOX from March 12th to June 4, 2019 With over 10,000 youngsters applying for a spot in the Top 24, Che stood out and flourished among fierce competition after initially starting out on the bottom as a weak underdog, flying under the radar, struggling in the twilight and living in the shadows of other prominent front-runners, from the bottom up to eventually winning the whole competition. After an intense, three-way grand finale culinary showdown against Ivy and Malia (two 11 year old's from Atlanta and Newhall), Che triumphed, won the title, the MasterChef trophy and the $100 grand cash prize money (deposited into a bank account, with the bank allowing him access once he turns 18). Since his victory, Che has guest starred on breakfast morning TV shows (Live with Kelly and Ryan), attended and partaken at Camp MasterChef in Connecticut in July 2019 as well as travelling to schools, public events and culinary projects across the US as a motivational guest speaker, Private Chef and brand ambassador to raise awareness about gluten-free foods and to continue inspiring youngsters like himself to never let your Achilles heel like your food allergy hold you back from your love, passion and dream of pursuing culinary arts. His future plans include enrolling in the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York and opening up a fancy ristorante in Manhattan, New York City after graduating. Che also plans to revolutionize the culinary world with his avant-garde and experimental, uniquely creative, innovative gluten free recipes on gluten free foods, hoping that his novelty will one day find a cure for celiac disease, which he suffers from. Che also plans to host his own cooking show on the Food Network one day. When he isn't busy studying in school or cooking in the kitchen, Che enjoys travelling around the globe with his family exploring exotic cuisines by putting his own unique spin/stamp on them, hiking, camping, fishing, playing soccer, reading food magazines and bike riding. An Onteora Middle School alumnus, he resides in Upstate New York (Boiceville) with his mother Elizabethanne, his older brother Jackson (b. April 8, 2004), his younger brother Cosmo (b. spring 2010) and his cat Perry.