{"id":267410,"date":"2026-06-15T15:26:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T15:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/267410\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T15:26:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T15:26:13","slug":"lawyer-and-foodie-now-a-contestant-on-food-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/267410\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawyer and foodie now a contestant on Food Network"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>BAY RIDGE \u2014 A lawyer and cook will display her culinary talent on television, thanks to Food Network\u2019s new show, \u201c100 Cooks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bay Ridge resident Danielle Caminiti was selected to be a contestant. According to the network\u2019s site, the show welcomes 100 of America\u2019s elite home cooks to the 100 Cooks arena where they\u2019ll be challenged to run the gauntlet of the most unpredictable pro-chef level cooking competition. The cooks are randomly selected to compete in challenges that range from blind taste tests to 30-minute cooking battles.<\/p>\n

\"#24<\/a>Danielle Caminiti is number 24 in the show. Photo: Food Network<\/p>\n

The new show is hosted by Terry Crews and judged by Alex Guarnaschelli and Nick DiGiovanni.<\/p>\n

\u201cCooking really started out as a creative outlet during COVID when the courts slowed down,\u201d Caminiti said. \u201cI started sharing family recipes online, and then I ended up writing and self-publishing a cookbook. I kept at it because it was fun, and then it turned into a side hustle.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"#1<\/a>The contestants on \u201c100 Cooks.\u201d Photo: Food Network<\/p>\n

She added, \u201cBeing selected for this was something I never would\u2019ve imagined. I didn\u2019t apply for it. They reached out to me. It was out of the blue.\u201d<\/p>\n

As her Instagram page<\/a> grew in popularity, the casting director reached out to Caminiti and talked about the concept for the show. Other people have inquired about her joining reality shows before, but the timing never worked out. Now, with her son in college, Caminiti decided to go for the opportunity.<\/p>\n

\"\u201c100<\/a>\u201c100 Cooks\u201d premiered this month. Photo: Food Network<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter years of putting everybody first, sacrificing, being a single parent, a business owner and attorney, I was finally able to do it,\u201d Caminiti said. \u201cIt was just really surreal, and they never told us who the judges were. They never told us who the host was. They just said it\u2019s big names that you would recognize. I guess they wanted to get everybody\u2019s real, raw reaction so when we found out who was hosting and judging, I was pinching myself. I\u2019ve always watched the Food Network growing up, but I never imagined that I would be on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

During her experience, she met 99 other home cooks from across the country and all different walks of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really a cross-section of every type of cuisine and every type of home cook,\u201d she said. \u201cNobody has any formal training, so we\u2019re all kind of in the same boat. Some had very small social media profiles and follower counts, and others very large ones with millions of followers. It really ran the gamut.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show was filmed in Burbank, California. The filming was over 12-hour days and contestants couldn\u2019t have their cellphones.<\/p>\n

\"Caminiti<\/a>Caminiti in front of an ad for the show. Photo: Danielle Caminiti<\/p>\n

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t believe the set,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was immense and had all the stoves and ovens with all the lights. I would\u2019ve never imagined that just cooking as a hobby and as a creative outlet would come to this. It just goes to show you that it\u2019s not about the winning or the losing. It\u2019s about how you\u2019re never too old to start something new.\u201d<\/p>\n

The experience was rewarding yet stressful. \u201cThere were just moments around, when I looked around and I\u2019m thinking, how does a girl that lives in Brooklyn get here? It goes to show you have to step out of your comfort zone and get uncomfortable for a great thing to happen,\u201d Caminiti said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She is comfortable cooking, but the pressure of being observed by Crews, Guarnaschelli and DiGiovanni added a challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very nerve-wracking, to say the least, but it was such an awesome experience, and they couldn\u2019t have been nicer,\u201d Caminiti said of the crew. \u201cWe learned so much. When you weren\u2019t called and you were in the stands, their criticisms and their pointers were invaluable knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>The contestants on \u201c100 Cooks.\u201d Photo: Food Network<\/p>\n

Caminiti said the camaraderie the contestants formed was strong thanks to all the time they spent together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey flew us out there and everybody became just one big family and we\u2019re all so supportive of each other,\u201d she said. \u201cWe all are on a WhatsApp chat and we\u2019re sending pictures or recipes or cheering each other on. It\u2019s nice to see, in a world of such competition, everybody band together and support each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout the years, Caminiti split her time between Carroll Gardens and Bay Ridge. Last year, she was grand marshal for the 51st annual Feast of Santa Rosalia<\/a> in Bensonhurst.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was so super exciting,\u201d Caminiti said. \u201cIt\u2019s just like one thing after another. It\u2019s all because of social media. Before COVID, I was just being a business owner and practicing law. You see the same people over and over again in court, and your circle really doesn\u2019t expand. I\u2019m still practicing law, but it\u2019s become symbiotic, and a lot of my legal clients want to know more about cooking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing up, Caminiti lived in a two-family house with her maternal grandparents and always had a love for cooking.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing an Italian American, my mom always cooked, and my both grandmothers always cooked, so it was always around me,\u201d Caminiti said. \u201cI think I learned how to cook by osmosis and it\u2019s just constantly being around me, but nobody ever really sat me down and taught me how to cook.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Host<\/a>Terry Crews is the host of the show. Photo: Food Network<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until the COVID-19 pandemic that Caminiti cooked more often. It became cathartic for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was staying positive and staying busy, and nobody\u2019s going to tell you to stay six feet away from your frying pan or anything else,\u201d she said. \u201cSo that\u2019s really when I started cooking more and developing recipes. One thing led to another, brands started reaching out and I started to do more spotlights on local restaurants and local businesses, which is nice, too, because it helps the mom-and-pop shops that are around Brooklyn.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c100 Cooks\u201d premiered June 7 and will air Sunday evenings on Food Network.<\/p>\n