After graduating from Bradley University in glorious Peoria, IL, Jeff Mauro opened up a deli with his cousin and fell in love with cooking.  During the day Jeff would craft sandwiches.  During the night, he satisfied his comedic bug playing the role ‘Tony’ in Tony and Tina's Wedding. With both his professional cooking knowledge and performance skills polished, he moved to Los Angeles in an attempt to meld his two loves - cooking and comedy.  After a few years hustling in Hollywood, he upped the ante and enrolled in culinary school to refine his cooking skills.  Mauro graduated valedictorian, packed up his Honda and returned to Chicago where he was a culinary instructor, a successful private chef, and local comedic performer.  After three unsuccessful audition attempts, he finally landed himself on Season 7 of Food Network Star, which he totally won. Jeff Mauro is now the star of Food Network's Emmy-nominated Sandwich King, $24 in 24 hrs and The Scoop. He has appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Steve Harvey Show, Chopped, Cupcake Wars, & once, just ONCE on an mid-nineties episode of COPS.