Estimated Net Worth: $500,000
Restaurant: N/A
As Seen On: The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell
For the more eccentric food lovers, there is Christine McConnell. Her Netflix series, “The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell,” is a combination of cooking, baking, and the supernatural. The premise of the show centers around her culinary adventures in her spooky restaurant/mansion. The show was developed by McConnell herself who is a baker by trade. It also incorporates some scripted sitcom-style elements.
McConnell creates wild desserts and creepy-themed treats like caramel spiders, haunted gingerbread houses, and bones made out of pretzel sticks. Before her show, she was known on Instagram and Reddit for disturbing culinary creations.
Nigella Lawson
Estimated Net Worth: $20 million
Restaurant: N/A
As Seen On: Nigella Bites
Probably seen by most as the British Martha Stewart, Nigella Lawson started out her career in cooking with a bit of resistance to the TV spotlight. Fortunately for us, her on-screen charisma took her pretty far. In 1999 she started with her show "Nigella Bites" which instantly gave her a huge following. She is known for her sensual and flirty hosting style, making watching her bake a cake very fun.
Lawson is known for objecting to the term 'celebrity chef' and embraces easy cooking for everyone. With that said, her simplistic approach earned her quite a nice sum of money. She also has several cookbooks to her name. Her other shows include "Nigella Feasts" (2006-11), and a well-remembered one, "The Taste" (2013-15).
Charlie Ayers
Estimated Net Worth: $45 million
Restaurant: Google
As Seen On: The Google Story
Chefs can pop out of some unexpected places. Charlie Ayers was the head chef at Google, working hard at serving delicious lunches every day to their roughly four thousand employees. The company supplied both lunch and dinner across ten different campuses. Ayers has been such an integral part of the operation of Google that he has a whole chapter devoted to him in the best-selling book "The Google Story."
The Google chef trained in the state of New Jersey. He then moved on to the position of head chef at the Hilton Hotel. Ayers furthered in cooking in Rhode Island at Johnson & Wales. Before his big move to Google, he was based in Boston and Providence. Being at Google has made him $26 million in stock options alone.
Cat Cora
Estimated Net Worth: $7 million
Restaurant: Cat Cora’s Que
As Seen On: Iron Chef America
Chef Cat Cora was shot to fame after claiming the title of The Iron Chef on "Iron Chef America." She now hosts the Food Network favorite "Around the World in Eighty Plates," which airs on Bravo. Cora got her cooking education at the Culinary Institute of America. She specialized in Mediterranean and Fusion styles of cooking. Her Mississippi upbringing has also given her a Southern flair.
As the first female winner on the Iron Chef, she made TV history. Since the big win, she has appeared in a string of culinary publications, amongst them FHM. Cora is also the spokesperson for UNICEF and was even nominated as the Grand Marshal for the ST. Patty's parade in her hometown.
Pat Neely
Net Worth: $1.5 million
Restaurant: Neely's Bar-B-Que
As Seen On: Down Home with the Neelys
Pat Neely began his career when he discovered his passion for barbecue. In 1988, together with his three brothers and uncle, Pat opened up a barbecue restaurant in downtown Memphis. Their food empire only grew from there and when he met his wife (now ex-wife) and eventual cooking partner, Gina, the two created their New York City restaurant Neely's Barbecue Parlor. Pat and Gina Neely went on to have an illustrious Food Network career, creating a number of shows together, namely "Down Home With the Neelys" and "Road Tasted With the Neelys."
The pair also wrote a book together. Unfortunately, the two eventually divorced and have gone their separate ways. Pat is now the co-owner of a Memphis Tennessee restaurant Bar-B-Que. Neely made a TV comeback when he hosted "Save to Win" on Saturdays on The CW from November 5, 2016, to May 20, 2017