When Kristen Kish was first named host of Top Chef in Season 21, stepping into the tall and shiny heels of former longtime host Padma Lakshmi, the stress and anxiety of it all was immense.
“I had the pressure of myself,” Kish said while filming in Toronto last fall. “But I also had the pressure of balancing the expectation of the viewer.” That first season, she added, was “a hard thing to mentally and healthfully deal with.”
Fortunately, she had the admiration and support of long-time judges Gail Simons and Tom Colicchio after having skilfully won the series 10th season. The latter shared, “The big difference is that Kristen knows what the chefs are going through. And they know that. That’s something we’ve never had before.”
Today, with her second season underway at the beloved reality series—this time filmed entirely in and inspired by Canada, a first for the franchise—Kish is doing just fine. She says, “I already feel comfortable. There’s not a nervous bone in my body, which is really saying something.”
“I just need to tone down my f—ks,” Kish adds with a laugh mid-filming. Apart from that, she’s a warm presence in the always intense kitchen. Her critiques are thoughtful. And when it comes to the food, her authority is never in question. Behind the camera, whether she’s swearing up a storm after missing a cue or delivering an unexpected barb, even the show’s crew holds back giggles, raving about how fun it is to just watch her own the set. Own is truly the word, by the way; she’s not only a Top Chef winner, but the former chef de cuisine at Boston’s Menton and, as of 2018, became chef and owner of Austin’s Arlo Gray.
But there’s more. Kish’s new book, Accidentally on Purpose, was released April 22nd and it’s her most personal project to date. It’s part memoir, part meditation on identity and resilience. It charts her rise, from her birth in Seoul, South Korea to growing up as a shy, adopted kid in Michigan to becoming a Cordon Bleu-trained chef and, now, the face of a major TV franchise. She touches, too, on coming out, and the competitiveness of the restaurant industry. Despite the emotional weight of each of these moments in her life, Accidentally on Purpose is a surprisingly breezy and positive read. While hers isn’t the first memoir of its kind thematically, it is effectively motivating.
“I feel really good about it,” she says. “I’m confident about what I wanted to put out—the stories, the point of view, how it’s told.”
Kish emphasizes that the book isn’t about dishing out advice, but about inviting readers to reflect on their own stories through hers. She explains, “It’s not just about me. Though people may not have gone through exactly what I did, we’re all living this life for the first time. We all have challenges, things that go right, things that don’t and things to celebrate. I am no different.”
She’s bracing for the more intimate kind of attention that comes with writing something this revealing, but also seems ready. “I’ve been more front-facing than ever,” she says. “And the fan reaction has been really different. But I’m okay with that, I’m proud of what I’ve shared.”
Kish’s career has always been about more than just the food. Her personal style, for instance, has become her signature. First, there’s the fitting asymmetrical hair, then there’s her love of a tailored suit, a sharp silhouette and a vibrant palette.
“Kristen’s an interesting person in the scheme of my life,” says Top Chef wardrobe stylist Charlotte Rose Coleman, who describes the chef-turned host-turned author as her muse. “At the same token, I get so much more from her just as she gets from me. We hold each other’s hands along the process.”
Initially, that largely involved figuring out who Kish is and ensuring no blurred lines between herself and Lakshmi. As Coleman says, “This is a totally new era.” So, Kish made a few things clear: she really only found comfort in a pant, and a skinny one at that. Any heel, of any size, was out of the question.
“One of the things that I pushed her on was coming up with a way to take up more space,” says Coleman, speaking in both the literal (the girl is tall!) and the figurative. Because as wild as it is to believe now, Kish wasn’t always as confident or as strong a presence. Her style has been a part of that. Coleman encouraged her to command the screen—as she certainly does now—first, with a heel here and there, then with some bold colours, and now, with a whole lot of patterns. It’s made her one of the best dressed women in television, and certainly the best suited.
“If something’s pushing my limits, I’ll say no,” Kish says. “Charlotte and I have a really good balance. She’s not going to bring me something uncomfortable, like a dress, you know? She knows what I like, and now, I know what I like and what I’ll try.”
A part of her look, of course, is her sprawling tattoo collection. When asked how she’ll be commemorating Top Chef’s Canadian season, she said, “I haven’t decided what it is yet, but there will be one. The idea will come to me!”
Even as her onscreen presence grows, Kish remains tethered to the kitchen. Arlo Grey is still her culinary home, even if she’s not on the line every night. “If I want to cook, I cook. If I want to talk to tables, I talk to tables,” she says. “It’s not my full-time job anymore. But if someone called out and I needed to jump behind the grill? I could.”
There’s a centeredness to Kish these days—one that allows her to live fully in both worlds: the polish of television and the chaos of the kitchen.
“We all have different versions of ourselves,” she says. “There’s how you talk with your friends, how you talk in an interview, who you are at your job. [Either way,] I’m fully me. Even if I have to tone it down sometimes, I also know how to live my life and be true to me now.”
Like this post? Follow The RepresentASIAN Project on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to keep updated on the latest content.
