Go behind the scenes with Kristen Kish, the host of the reality cooking show, TopChef, author and owner of the Arlo Grey restaurant in Austin, Texas.
Kristen Kish grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan and attended Le Cordon Bleu in Chicago, earning an A.A. in culinary arts. Sheโs written the highlyย acclaimed Kristen Kish Cooking: Recipes and Techniques: A Cookbook. She owns the restaurant, Arlo Grey in Austin, Texas with Alex (Alejandro) Munoz as her Executive Chef. She married her wife, Bianca Dusic, inย 2021 and is currently host of the reality cooking show, Top Chef.
What type of food was your family making as you were growing up, and did it influence your culinary style early in your culinary career?
Oh, I mean 100%. The things we grew up on, I certainly have fond memories of taste; happy moments, sad moments, celebratory moments, and I think that is the nature, the beauty of food. I grew up in a mix of a lot of things. My parents were both working full-time, so sometimes dinner was something quick to get on the table. My dad would make things like chicken fingers, steaks on the grill, and hamburgers. As you know, Michigan in summer itโs…corn and tomatoes. My mom would make meatloaf, baked potatoes, and in the winter when fresh produce was not abundant, weโd have green beans out of a can. All these things that I grew up with have certainly influenced the way I cook and what comfort means to me. Now, I donโt cook meatloaf and serve it at my restaurant, but I tap into why the foods I grew up were so comforting to me and I try to replicate those feelings in my dishes today.
Were you or are you a โfoodieโ?
No, absolutely not. Even today I donโt think of myself as a foodie.
It was so emotional back in 2012, when during the first episode of season 10 of Top Chef your friend and co-worker Stephanie was eliminated. You got matching spoon tattoos, yes? Are you still good friends, in close touch?
Oh, best friends. Absolute best friends to this day. Weโve been in each otherโs lives for 17 years and weโve been through all the different levels and layers of all of lifeโs changes. The ups and the downs, the hard and the easy. We are family.
You won that season 10 of Top Chef and that roller-coaster journey showed us that you were determined to cook your way up to the winning spot. What was the moment like when you were named the winner?
Of course, I had determination after being eliminated to make my way, but it wasnโt โI gotta come back.โ It was just the next stage of competition….one foot in front of the other. Thatโs what I really focused on. And thatโs what I did in the main competition as well. So, albeit I was determined to win, but I wasnโt this race car trying to make it to the finish line. I was also very much trying to enjoy the process and be less nervous about the whole thing. The way the show played out, after I got kicked off of the main show and then won the last chef kitchen, there was a really long hiatus before going into the finale, and it gave me time to come off of the…
Adrenaline?
Exactly. Adrenaline. So, when I went back to do the finale. It was calm. It felt like more of a one off…and it was kind of good for me and a lot of fun. And honestly when I won all of the emotions came rushing back. And I thought to myself, โOh my God I just finished it and I finished it on top!โ
Kristen, Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons During Shooting of Cranberry Challenge. (Photo by David Moir)
After winning Top Chef back in 2012, you then embarked on an adventuresome four-part series, Restaurants at the end of the World. What I loved about the show was that it wasnโt just about the food, it was the journey too. And even more so about the people. Are there some destinations youโd return to in a heartbeat?
All of them. 100%. And explore it and spend time with the people off camera because I met some great friends in all four locations.
Youโve obviously taken over the reins of hosting Top Chef from Padma. Those are some pretty big shoes to fill…not sure she would like that analogy…sheโs a big personality to live up to, how did you feel when you got the news? Were you the obvious choice or was there some sort of auditioning process?
No auditioning process. I have since learned that apparently, I was the only choice.
What an honor.
I know right? No pressure to live up to. No problem. I felt surprised, honored, excited, nervous. All of the things you can think of being asked to take over a long running well respected show, and when thereโs something so well beloved of course there are nerves attached to it. Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons were hugely helpful in this process. Padma paved a very well-grounded strong runway, but my job was not to walk down it in her shoes. My role was to create my own, and that was imperative for the success to the show and for my own well- being. Also, why choose someone to replicate her? I was chosen to be me, and I needed to step into that ownership.
You and judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons seem like you are having a blast on the current season, 21. Are you having as much fun as it looks?
We are. Even off camera we hang out. Just talking, hanging out. Slipping into the show was made easier because I knew these friends so well.
I also love your show Dish with Kish. Itโs fun and relaxed and very informative. Can you explain the concept of the show to our readers?
Top Chef has always done side after shows. Itโs a recap, itโs giving more personality to Top Chef. It a peek behind the scenes. No rules, we talk about how the show works.
You also have Arlo Grey, your Austin, Texas restaurant. Please tell us a little bit about it.
If weโre talking about comfort, Iโm looking at what brings me comfort. My food, my story. Largely youโll find across the world we all have very strong similarities as to why itโs comforting to us. Even if itโs from different cultures, different countries, and different family traditions. I think itโs a good connector, and then from there you can work with new flavors and techniques, but I will say that I give a lot of credit to my team for the success of Arlo Grey, because they are the ones running the restaurant day after day after day. Especially my executive chef, Alex Munoz, whose been with me from the beginning, over six years ago. Heโs grown from Sous- chef to Executive Sous to Chef de Cuisineย to Executive Chef. Born and raised inย Austin, Texas, heโs the boss.
What advice would you offer to someone whoโd love to create a career in the culinary world? Go to school, or just learn firsthand, on the job, by working your way up?
I think there are so many things out there telling you this is what you need to become successful: this is the right way; this is the best way; this is the smartest way, but thereโs not a one-size fits all scenario. I think at the end of the day you have to become conscious and aware of what your goals are and why you want something, the intent behind it. A lot of it is experimentation, trying things on for size to see what fits and what doesnโt. Thatโs the only advice I can give, because to say you could do it like me, it doesnโt make sense. Itโs about finding what your goals are and figuring out where you want to go. And for me, I think for a long time I didnโt know what my end-goal was. My goal was just to be successful, which wasnโt healthy for me, so I had to figure out what it meant to be happy.
Youโve already been all over the world, do you still have a travel bucket list?
You know, a bucket list isnโt something I have. I mean I have aspirations and am inspired by places. I have more of a dream list. I want to visit Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, parts of Africa and I want to explore more of my wifeโs homeland, which is Australia, and Macedonia, Serbia, and Eastern Europe.
