Joliet Junior College alum wins Food Network Show

Joliet Junior College alumna Arron Sain of Joliet recently won a Food Network competition.

Sain appeared on “No Utensils Needed,” of the Food Network’s “Supermarket Stakeout” program, which aired July 22.

Each episode revolves around four chefs squaring off in a competitive pop-up kitchen outside a grocery store, according to the Food Network.

The chefs are given cash to purchase shoppers’ grocery bags and then create recipes around a theme using those food items, according to the Food Network.

In “No Utensils Needed,” Sain and the other chefs created dishes that required two hands to eat, according to the Food Network. Sain won the competition and received a year’s worth of groceries.

“When it comes to being in the kitchen, this is the most fulfilling day of my life,” Sain said on the episode after his win was announced. “I feel like everything I have done up to this point has just been validated by some pretty amazing chefs.”

Sain, a culinary student at JJC in the early 2000s, also cooked on WGN TV in 2023, worked with high-profile clients like entertainer Nick Cannon and NFL player Aaron Donald, and appeared in national publications.

[ Arron Sain whipped up a business with culinary, bodybuilding skills ]

After graduating from Joliet Central High School in 1998, Sain studied culinary “mainly because cooking came easy to me,” he previously said.

Sain began bodybuilding in 2013, created his own diet and started Insainly Fit Meals in 2015 when he began receiving requests for meals.

For more information, visit arronsain.com.

Another Joliet Junior College alumna, Liam Obrien, 24, of Channahon, recently earned the title of 2025 Top Young Chef in the U.S. during the Chaine des Rôtisseurs Top Young Chef World Competition, which is held every two years.

Michael McGreal, JJC’s culinary arts management department chair, said winners from the state competition compete for six regional championships – and those winners compete for the title of Top Young Chef in the U.S.

“Liam now moves on to the world championships against the top young chefs from around the globe all chasing the title of Top Young Chef in the World,” McGreal said.

Location details are not yet announced.

Two years ago, JJC alumna Joey Baffoe won the world championship as the 2023 Chaine des Rôtisseurs Top Young Chef in the World, McGreal said.

Baffoe was the youngest American to win the competition, according to Chaîne Online News.

For more information about JJC’s culinary arts program, visit jjc.edu.