Justin Warner

Justin M. Warner was born on February 11, 1984, in Hagerstown, Maryland. His mother worked as a schoolteacher, and his father was a psychiatrist. Warner’s father, who was 57 years old at the time of Justin’s birth, passed away shortly after Justin graduated from South Hagerstown High School in 2002. Notably, Warner was a finalist in the National Spelling Bee in 1998. He is a self-taught chef, having no formal culinary training. His inspiration to learn cooking came from his father, which shaped his early approach to food.

Warner made his initial television appearance in August 2010 on ’24 Hour Restaurant Battle’ with his then-girlfriend J.J. Pyle. Their brunch restaurant concept led them to win the episode, though the physical restaurant did not materialize. In 2012, Warner became a contestant on the eighth season of ‘Food Network Star,’ mentored by Alton Brown. He won the competition, securing himself a show. However, Alton Brown later announced in 2013 that he would not be producing Warner’s show. In March 2013, Warner debuted a one-hour pilot special on Food Network titled ‘Rebel Eats.’ He also served as a judge on ‘Guy’s Grocery Games’ in 2014.

Professionally, Warner co-owned the Do or Dine restaurant in Bed-Stuy, New York, until its closure in September 2015. In 2021, he and his wife, Brooke Sweeten, opened Bokujo Ramen in Rapid City, South Dakota, which focuses on combining Japanese food traditions with local ingredients. Since October 2016, Warner has hosted ‘Chefshock,’ a live cooking show on Twitch.tv, where he cooks from raw ingredients and interacts with viewers. He is also the author of “The Laws of Cooking: And How to Break Them” (2015) and hosts ‘Eat the Universe’ on marvel.com, creating meals inspired by Marvel characters. He married Brooke Sweeten on June 29, 2015.