THE CHEF NORMALIZING RAW EMOTIONS
She’s a brilliant chef, a restaurateur (Arlo Grey in Austin, Texas), a cookbook author (Kristen Kish Cooking: Recipes and Techniques), a TV personality (with shows on Netflix, National Geographic, and TruTV), and the new host of Bravo’s Top Chef. But for all her incredible success, Kristen Kish may be most inspiring when she’s admitting that life isn’t always rosy. “I’ve realized the power of saying what I feel, especially when everything’s not perfect,” she says. Kish is open about her lifelong challenges with anxiety and bouts of impostor syndrome, even in life’s most mundane moments. “I might be at the grocery store, look at my cart, and think, Oh my God, I’m not a chef. You never know what’s going to trigger those feelings.”Kish’s candor and story have won her many fans. A South Korean adoptee, she grew up in Michigan, attended culinary school, and honed her skills in Boston restaurants before competing on—and winning—season 10 of Top Chef. She became a regular guest judge, until the producers brought her on as host. Now, with Top Chef in its 21st season, she’s on her biggest stage yet. Remarkably, this job gives her less anxiety than you’d think. “I know what I know and what I don’t know,” she says. “At the end of the day, my role as host is simply to be me and be honest. That I can do.” —Jenna Helwig, food director
FROM LEFT: COURTESY OF ANDREW WERNER; LYNDON FRENCH