Lee Knaz

Hometown	Venice, California
Age	27
Occupation	Bartender
Statistics
Mystery Box(es) Won	1
Elimination Test(s) Won	1
Team Challenge(s) Won	1
Pressure Test(s) Survived	2
Top Entries	1
Bottom Entries	3
Placement	3rd
Episode Eliminated	Winner Revealed, Part 1

Lee Knaz was a contestant on Season 1 of MasterChef. He ranked in 3rd place.

Personality

Lee started out cocky, but when he found his voice during team challenge, he became more confident, and was one of the best chefs of the season. He was never shy to voice his opinions and was never scared to say what he was really thinking about a situation. Lee was probably best remembered for his friendly rivalry with Sharone throughout the season. While he did bad as both a team captain and in both Mystery Boxes and Elimination Challenges, he was eliminated in episode 12 after losing to Whitney in the semifinals, just missing the finale, and placing 3rd along with Sheetal.

Competition History

Week 4	In/In
Week 5	Win
Week 6	In/In
Week 7	Pressure Test
Week 8	Win/Win
Week 9	Win
Week 10	In/Low
Week 11	High/Immune
Week 12	Immune/Eliminated

Post MasterChef

• After his appearance, Lee offers personal catering services from his catering company Mission Olive LLC and also meal delivery. He promotes the Mediterranean diet and offers e-cookbook cookery classes through company The Mediterranean Guy. Lee is Chef and host on Recipe Hunters, a reality competition TV Show.

Trivia

• He is the first contestant to win both the Mystery Box and the following Invention Test.

Quotes

• "It sucks, I'm a little bitter!"
• "I came out a winner today because I had the opportunity to cook for my mom and all competition aside, that, to me, means more than anything and it just tells me that I am doing the right thing with my life."
• (After being eliminated) "This whole experience just strengthen my belief that I did found my calling in life. It showed me that I have the potential, that I have the talent to really grab it and make the most of it and that's exactly what I'm gonna be working on. The education that I got from this experience is worth just as much as a quarter of a million dollars."

Gallery

Season 1

Lee's Confessional

Lee receiving his Apron

Lee's Boot Camp Dish

Lee in the Blue Team

Lee in a Black Apron

Jake, Tracy, Tony, Whitney, and Lee in the Ingredient Identification Pressure Test

Lee's Crab Mystery Box Dish

Sharone, Lee, and Sheetal in the Crab Mystery Box Top 3

Lee's Passion Fruit Dish

Mike, Lee, Jake, and Tracy in the Pasta Pressure Test

Lee's Pasta Pressure Test Dish

Lee, Jake, and Tracy in the Pasta Pressure Test Bottom 3

Lee's Vanilla Dessert

Lee, Sheetal, and Mike in the Vanilla Dessert Bottom 3

Lee's Sculpin Dish

Lee in a Chef Smock

Lee's Smock Confessional

Whitney and Lee in the Semi-Finals

Lee's Eggs Benedict

Lee's Chicken Parmesan

Lee's Cheesecake

Lee Eliminated

External links

• Lee Knaz on Facebook: /Lee-Knaz

• Lee Knaz on Instagram: leeknaz