Madison Cowan is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

chef. He was the first Grand Champion of

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

's '' Chopped''. He co-stars in

BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is owned by AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary series). Unlike the BBC's ...

’s travel series '' No Kitchen Required'', appeared as a judge on

’s '' Extreme Chef'' and in cooking segments on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

’s ''

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...

'' and ''

CBS This Morning ''CBS This Morning'' (''CTM'') is an American morning television program that aired on CBS from November 30, 1987 to October 29, 1999, and again from January 9, 2012 to September 6, 2021. On November 1, 1999, the original incarnation was repla ...

''. Cowan resides in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Early life

Madison Cowan was born in

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

; his father is from

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

and his mother is

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

. He started cooking at age 14. His father was diagnosed with

Alzheimer’s disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

, which ran in their family, and was a catalyst for his own advocacy work for the disease.

Restaurant and food career

Early in Cowan's career he worked at ''

Tavern on the Green Tavern on the Green is an American cuisine restaurant in Central Park in Manhattan, New York City, near the intersection of Central Park West and West 66th Street on the Upper West Side. The restaurant, housed in a former sheepfold, has be ...

'', under Patrick Clark. Cowan was an executive chef at ''Ashbells'' in London. Cowan was a co-owner of ''Avenue Inc.,'' a supper club and cater company in New York City. From March 2013 to 2014, Cowan was the consulting chef for the restaurant ''Slide'', located at 174 Bleecker Street, New York City. In 2018, he was a participant in Michelle Obama's "Chefs Move to Schools" project.

Television appearances

In 2010, Cowan was awarded the first title of "Grand Champion" of the culinary reality television show ''Chopped'' (Food Network), which also had a cash prize of $50,000 USD. In April 2012, he won "Battle: Kale" on

's ''

Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, wh ...

'' (season 10, episode 3), with Amanda Freitag and his runner-up on ''Chopped'' Lance Nitahara serving as his sous chefs, defeating Iron Chef

Jose Garces Jose Garces is an American chef, restaurant owner, and Iron Chef America#The Iron Chefs, Iron Chef. He was born in Chicago to Ecuadorian parents. He won in the second season of ''The Next Iron Chef''. Early life Garces was born in the early 1970s ...

Personal life

In May of 2024, Cowan was reported to have not paid rent in his New York City apartment for 4 1/2 years and faced eviction.

References

External links

* American television chefs American chefs Food Network chefs Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Chefs from New York City British chefs BBC television presenters 21st-century African-American people British people of Jamaican descent British people of American descent {{Food-bio-stub