Famous Food

"Hell's Kitchen" champ Ja'Nel Witt tested positive for cocaine ... and that's why she wasn't allowed to accept the head-chef position at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant in Vegas ... TMZ has learned.

Talk about blowing a huge opportunity ...

Sources extremely familiar with the situation tell us ... Caesars Palace required Witt to submit to a drug test in order to take the job as head chef at the Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill, the position she earned after winning Season 11 of "Hell's Kitchen" earlier this year.

FYI -- Caesars has a notoriously strict drug policy ... and requires all employees to submit to drug testing.

But Witt bombed her test -- one source tells us she "failed miserably" -- and when Caesars found out ... they quickly kicked her ass to the curb.

But there is a silver lining for Witt -- we're told she WILL receive the $250k salary ... despite the fact she won't spend a single day in the kitchen.

Fun Fact -- $250,000 can buy roughly 10 kilos of cocaine ... depending on the quality.

Ja'Nel Witt -- the winner of "Hell's Kitchen" Season 11 -- has announced she will NOT accept the show's grand prize (the head chef position at one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants in Vegas) ... citing "personal matters."

It's been less than one month since Ja'Nel's reality show victory was broadcast on TV -- with Ja'Nel locking up the head chef gig at Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill in Las Vegas ... a job that pays $250k.

Witt made the announcement on Twitter -- saying, "Due to personal matters, I will not be joining the team in Las Vegas, but I wish them continued success."

Witt did not go into detail about her personal situation.

"I would like to express my sincerest thanks to Hell's Kitchen, Gordon Ramsay, Caesars Palace & my supportive fans for this amazing experience," she added.

Story developing ...

Paula Deen has SETTLED the lawsuit that sent her empire crashing to the ground.

Lisa Jackson -- who worked as General Manager at Uncle Bubba's Seafood and Oyster House -- filed the suit, claiming racial and sexual harassment. The racial claim was dismissed recently because Lisa didn't have a dog in the fight -- because she's white.

Now Jackson's lawsuit has been dismissed, and all signs point to a settlement. The terms appear to be confidential.

Honey Boo Boo hit up a popular gay hamburger joint in Florida this week for her very first drag show … then stuck around for the ballsiest game of Bingo she ever played … and TMZ has the pics.

7-year-old Alana Thompson – along with Mama June and Uncle Poodle – hit up Hamburger Mary’s in Jacksonville on Tuesday for a couple of rounds of Drag Queen bingo … it’s just regular bingo, with a little more duct tape.

Sources at the restaurant tells us … the Boo Boo bunch had a blast – and were so popular inside the joint, people were hitting the gang up for pictures and autographs.

In fact, so many people wanted a piece of the reality stars – they decided to whip out a tip jar … and promised to donate any money they raised to a charity dedicated to fighting cyber-bullying.

Anyway, here's one last drag queen joke:

To Wong Boo,

Thanks for everything.

An American war hero is suing the company behind Kentucky Fried Chicken ... claiming KFC employees refused to serve him ... all because he arrived to the fast food joint with his registered service dog, this according to a new lawsuit obtained by TMZ.

The man behind the lawsuit is Charles Hernandez -- who describes himself as a "highly-decorated and combat-disabled veteran of the Iraq war and a distinguished educator in the New York City school system."

There's more ... he was also New York City Council's Veteran of the Year in 2011 ... and was also "one of the first soldiers to arrive at the World Trade Center site" on September 11, 2001.

So, you'd think the guy would have no problems getting some fried chicken at his leisure, right?

Wrong, according to his new lawsuit filed in NYC.

Hernandez claims he walked into a KFC in NY back in February, along with his registered service dog Valor ... who accompanies Hernandez to soothe his symptoms of post-traumatic stress caused by years in combat.

But instead of being greeted with a smile and some chicken, Hernandez claims a KFC employee told him, "papi, there are no dogs allowed."

Hernandez says he explained that he had the proper permits to have the dog accompany him inside restaurants -- to which the employee replied, "ok, but you still cannot have the dog in the store."

Eventually, Hernandez left ... sans chicken ... and is now firing back with the lawsuit -- demanding at least $1,000,000 for his troubles.

God bless America.

An employee at the KFC restaurant where the incident took place tells us ... when Hernandez arrived with the dog, the animal was not wearing the proper service dog vest and identification.

However, in his lawsuit, Hernandez states -- "Valor wears a bright green vest and tags that clearly indicate that he is not a pet, but rather a highly trained service dog."

Sgt. Hernandez called into TMZ Live today to talk about the suit.

A high school math class is calling BS on claims that "Double Stuf Oreos" have twice the amount of creme ... saying consumers are getting screwed out of 7% of the double creaminess they were promised.

It was all part of a class project in Upstate NY, assigned by a suspicious cookie-obsessed “Consumer Math” instructor. The class did intense testing on 10 Oreos and determined that Double Stuf Oreos were only 1.86 times larger than the regular ones. The same experiment revealed that Mega Stuf Oreos (allegedly 3-times the normal Oreo) were only 2.68 times larger.

Nabisco – the company behind the cookie – says the situation isn’t as black and white as it seems … claiming the math class is WRONG and insisting Double Stufs do indeed contain twice the crème filling.

We tried to conduct our own independent testing … but got hungry and ate all the cookies.

Competitive eating superstar Joey Chestnut shockingly lost a battle against newcomer Matt Stonie -- but by inhaling a few less gyoza he might actually win a war ... on heart disease.

Now serving silver linings!

Joey Chestnut -- perhaps the greatest competitive eater in the history of food -- had a giant helping of DEFEAT at the World Gyoza Eating Championships this weekend ... and TMZ was there for the whole thing.

Chestnut -- the reigning Gyoza eating champion (266 in 2012) -- was chewed up and spit out by 21-year-old eating prodigy Matt Stonie ... the #4-ranked eater on Planet Earth.

It all went down at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in L.A. ... where Chestnut stomached 251 gyozas and Stonie threw down 268!!!!

After the competition, Stonie told TMZ he plans to fart a lot this week -- "It's competitive eating. What do you expect?"

As for Chestnut -- who still holds titles in hot dogs and chicken wings -- he said, "I just didn't find my rhythm and Stonie came out hungry."

Never one to lack confidence, Chestnut added -- "I'll be back next year. I'll win it."

Less than two months after Paula Deen went on TV and proclaimed that "everyone should be treated equal" ... her husband Michael Groover was seen walking out of a Chick-fil-A restaurant.

While they do have great food (really great food), is Chick-fil-A REALLY the best place for Paula's hubby to grab a meal ... in the wake of the chef's "I'm not a bigot, please take me back America" campaign?

FYI -- it wasn't too long ago Paula appeared on TV and said, "I believe that every creature on this earth — every one of God's creatures — was created equal, no matter who you choose to go to bed at night with, no matter what church you go to pray. I believe that everyone should be treated equal and that's the way I was raised, and that's the way I live my life."

Just sayin' ...

After a lifetime of shying from social media, Prince has FINALLY joined the Twitterverse ... and instantly became "that guy" who posts photos of his food.

Dammit Prince.

The singer fired off his first tweet last night under the handle, "@3rdeyegirl -- and it read, "PRINCE'S 1ST TWEET... TESTING 1,2..."

His 2nd tweet read -- "PRINCE'S 2ND TWEET."

Followed by Tweet #3 -- a photo of his over-peppered salad, with the caption, "DID EYE ADD 2 MUCH PEPPER?"

Yes, Prince ... you did.

The Purple One polished off his first string of insightful tweets with an inaugural "selfie," a close-up shot that's barely discernible as his hair.

Rob Dyrdek is on a mission ... a greasy, stomach-filling, alcohol-absorbing mission ... to find the greatest drunk munchie chef in the country. And it's gonna be awesome.

Dyrdek was leaving Boa Steakhouse on Sunset Blvd. last night when he told us all about his upcoming MTV show "Snackdown" -- the hunt for a Wolfgang I'm-So-Pucked-Up-Right-Now.

"If you appreciate late night random drunk snacking on a gourmet level, that's what 'Snackdown' is all about."

For example -- Pizza with nachos ... throw in some chocolate syrup ... and maybe some ice cream. Boom. BRILLIANT.

In one of the most supremely ironic court decisions in a long time, a judge just threw out the racial discrimination claim filed against Paula Deen -- the very lawsuit that destroyed the famous chef.

A judge just ruled ... Lisa Jackson had no right to claim racial discrimination, BECAUSE SHE'S WHITE! Any comments that Deen or her cohorts may have made had no legal consequence to her, because she's simply not the right color.

Jackson made a tenuous argument that someone in her family was bi-racial -- something that may not be true at all. But the judge said even if it were true, she was at best an "accidental victim."

Short story -- Jackson ruined Paula with a bogus claim.

The case goes on, because Jackson also claims sexual discrimination, and so far there's not basis to doubt that she's a woman.

This video is so unbelievable we nearly can't believe it -- Steve Aoki launched a FULL CAKE from his DJ booth at a show over the weekend in Toronto ... hurling it 80 feet deep into the crowd ... and it splattered SQUARELY on some poor kid in a wheelchair.

Seriously. The throw could not have been more perfect. Drew Brees couldn't have pulled this off. Which is why our BS alarms are going off.

We can't prove it's some fake viral nonsense, so we'll let you decide. For his part, Aoki is saying it's real. He just tweeted, "i love this kid! i still cant believe i threw this cake 80 feet direct to the face! love u dawg!"

The "MasterChef" finalist who was arrested after getting into a violent, bizarre encounter with cops ... has a history of criminal behavior ... including a previous arrest.

TMZ broke the story ... Josh Marks was popped by cops in Chicago last week after he allegedly punched a cop and tried to steal his gun. It took 5 cops to finally subdue the 7-foot-2 giant, after using pepper spray and batons. Once in custody cops say Marks claimed he was God.

Marks' lawyer told TMZ afterwards, doctors are evaluating the chef for a mental illness, arguing he wasn't in his right mind when the alleged attack went down.

Now we've learned this isn't the first time Marks has had a run in with the law.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Marks was arrested in June for trespassing in a Chicago condo complex -- after allegedly sneaking in on numerous occasions and bizarrely telling residents he lived there. He DID NOT.

At the time, the building sent a WARNING to residents to be on the lookout for a "very tall" African-American man, who "enters the building by catching the door." They were told to call 911. The case is still pending.

"Naked and Afraid" star Billy Berger went all King Henry VIII on a snake ... chopping off its head without hesitation ... but it's what he discovered afterwards that's so interesting.

In the never-before-seen-clip of the show -- airing tonight -- Billy and partner Ky Furneaux try to survive in the Louisiana swamplands for 21 days, naked. Needing food, Billy goes snake hunting. Harder than it sounds.

It's pretty ridiculous ... not only does he catch the snake (which is consistently biting him) ... he chops off the serpent's head like he's cutting some breakfast sausage.

MasterChef finalist Josh Marks has just been canned by 2 of his sponsors after he was arrested earlier this week for allegedly attacking a police officer ... TMZ has learned.

A rep for the "Make A Sound Project" -- an organization dedicated to helping people who suffer from depression -- tells us Marks is OUT as an official spokesperson, effective immediately.

"We appreciate what Josh has done for us but we're in the market of helping people. So, we'll keep him in our prayers ... but as of now Chef Marks will be dropped as a spokesman."

Marks has also been 86'd from an NYC cooking competition called "Culinary Fight Night" -- which had marketed Marks as a celebrity judge for an upcoming event.

The CFN people tell TMZ ... they made the decision to ax Marks from the event because they don't want to to put their fans in danger -- adding, "We won't have this man tarnish the integrity of our brand."