Growing up in Philadelphia, Lieberman started cooking with his stay­at­home dad when he was seven. His food­loving family had two kitchens, and he quickly learned what was the best way to bake his cakes. Lieberman improved his kitchen skills greatly during a year abroad before college, learning from a cook in Italy and studying local specialties in Germany, Spain and France. At Yale, he was known for throwing dinner parties, single­handedly frying and baking while mixing drinks for dozens of friends. Just for fun, he and some friends decided to tape a show named Campus Cuisine about his cooking. Lieberman was a real college student showing his classmates how to do things like making drinks out of dining­hall fruit. That helped the show became very popular among the students. They would stop Lieberman after classes to ask for his advice on cooking. Tapes of the show were passed around, with which his name went beyond the school and finally to the Food Network. Food Network producer Flay hopes the young cook will find a place on the network television. He says Lieberman's charisma is key. “ Food TV isn't about food anymore , ” says Flay. “ It's about your personality and finding a way to keep people's eyeballs on your show. ” But Lieberman isn't putting all his eggs in one basket. After taping the first season of the new show, Lieberman was back in his own small kitchen preparing sandwiches. An airline company was looking for someone to come up with a tasteful, inexpensive and easy­to­make menu to serve on its flights, Lieberman got the job.