Jake Gandolfo

 

Hometown	Santa Cruz, California
Age	38
Occupation	Construction Worker
Statistics
Mystery Box(es) Won	0
Elimination Test(s) Won	1
Team Challenge(s) Won	1
Pressure Test(s) Survived	1
Top Entries	2
Bottom Entries	1
Placement	7th
Episode Eliminated	Top 9 Chefs Compete, Part 2

Jacob "Jake" Gandolfo was a contestant on Season 1 of MasterChef. He ranked in 7th place.

Personality

Jake was a confident individual who stayed cool and calm under pressure and was seen as a strong contender by his fellow competitors, who cited his food and ingredient knowledge in particular to be the best in their season. Jake started off the competition on a high note, placing in the top three for the first two Mystery Boxes before finally winning his first individual challenge, being the Cat Cora replication test. Unfortunately, he was sent home on the back of a double elimination alongside Tracy after both of them failed to impress in a the pasta making Pressure Test. Despite this, he stayed humble throughout the competition, showing diligence and focus.

Competition History

Episode 4	High/In
Episode 5	Win
Episode 6	High/Win
Episode 7	Pressure Test
Episode 8	In/In
Episode 9	Eliminated

Post MasterChef

• After his appearance, Jake has done a number of charity cooking events including supporting the Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies. He appeared on season 3 of Beat Bobby Flay and is currently the owner and Pit Master at BlackBoard Bar-B-Q in Boerne, Texas and reviews are excellent.

Trivia

• He is the first contestant to ever be on top for two Mystery Boxes in a row.
• He is the first contestant to make Top 10 to never on the bottom of any Elimination Challenge.

Quotes

• (After being eliminated) "My old life being just a working class construction worker, those days are over. It's all about food for me and this has really driven it home as an experience. It has really opened my eyes to 'I need to do this, I need to be in this environment'. What's next for Jake is just learning. Who knows, I could end up with a Cordon Bleu in France. My fire is lit, I'm super pumped up and I'm ready to cook man."

Gallery

Season 1

Jake's Confessional

Jake's Audition Dish

Jake receiving his apron

Jake's Boot Camp Dish

Jake's Porkchop Mystery Box Dish

Jake, Whitney, and Sheena in the first Mystery Box Top 3

Jake in the Blue Team

Jake in a Black Apron

Jake's Cupcake Mystery Box Dish

Jake, Sharone, and Whitney in the Cupcake Mystery Box Top 3

Jake's Halibut Replication Dish

Jake, Tracy, Tony, Whitney, and Lee in the Ingredient Identification Pressure Test

Jake's Passion Fruit Dish

Mike, Lee, Jake, and Tracy in the Pasta Pressure Test

Jake's Pasta Pressure Test Dish

Lee, Jake, and Tracy in the Pasta Pressure Test Bottom 3

Jake Eliminated

External links

• Jake Gandolfo on Instagram: gandolfojake