Kristen Kish

Kristen Louise Kish (born December 1, 1983) is an American chef and television personality, best known for winning the tenth season of Top Chef. She later became the host of Top Chef starting with its twenty-first season. She has hosted a variety of other programs, including 36 Hours, Fast Foodies, Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend, and Restaurants at the End of the World.

Early life and education Kish was born on December 1, 1983 in Seoul, South Korea, and adopted by a family in Kentwood, Michigan at the age of four months. She worked as a model while attending East Kentwood High School, graduating in 2002. She briefly studied international business and economics at Grand Valley State University for a year before attending Le Cordon Bleu in Chicago, earning an AA in Culinary Arts.

Culinary career After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu in 2005, Kish worked in Chicago for two years before moving to Boston. She was promoted to Stir's chef de cuisine by the owner, Barbara Lynch, in 2012. After her appearance on Top Chef, Kish was the chef de cuisine at Lynch's restaurant Menton until 2014. In 2018, Kish became the chef and partner at her restaurant Arlo Grey in Austin, Texas. Since 2024, Kish has served as Chef-in-Residence at Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts.

Television appearances In 2012, Kish competed in the tenth season of Bravo's Top Chef, which was filmed in Seattle, Washington. She initially had no interest in appearing on television but eventually agreed at Barbara Lynch's insistence. She has since received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program.

In 2015, Kish co-hosted 36 Hours, a six-episode series on the Travel Channel, with Kyle Martino, a television soccer analyst and former professional soccer player. The show, an adaptation of the New York Times travel column of the same name, followed Kish and Martino as they spent 36 hours eating, drinking, and exploring a given city. In each episode, a celebrity presented their favorite fast food item. The chefs then competed in two rounds. In the first round, they tried to duplicate the dish as precisely as possible. In the second round, they re-imagined the item into an haute cuisine interpretation.

Kish served as a co-presenter, alongside Alton Brown and Mark Dacascos, on Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend, the 2022 Netflix revival of the Iron Chef franchise. Kish provided running commentary with Brown on the competition and often served as the show's floor reporter, coming down to the kitchen area to check on the chefs' progress. In 2026, Kish appeared as a contestant on the fourth season of The Traitors. Designated as a Faithful, she was eliminated in the tenth episode after being "murdered" by the Traitors, placing eighth overall.

Filmography

Personal life In 2014, Kish publicly came out after announcing the first anniversary of the relationship with her girlfriend at the time, Jacqueline Westbrook, over Instagram. In 2019, Kish announced her engagement to Bianca Dusic in an Instagram post. They married in 2021.