When Kristen Kish, ‘Top Chef' Host, Hits the Mute Button

New York Times

26-04-2025

In her new memoir, 'Accidentally on Purpose,' Kristen Kish reflects on her childhood as a Korean adoptee in Michigan, coming out as gay in her late 20s, winning Season 10 of 'Top Chef' and struggling with anxiety.
Yet Kish, who now hosts the Bravo competition series, is known for her laid-back interactions with contestants. 'If my anxiety level was at a million growing up and being a young adult, it is certainly now in the hundreds,' she said. 'It has drastically reduced because I've given time and energy to managing it in the best way I can.'
Kish, 41, in her book recounts an upbringing filled with meatloaf, casseroles and Sunkist candies. Such down-to-earth predilections have stuck with her despite her upscale culinary career.
'People ask what my guilty pleasure food is,' she said. 'I don't feel any guilt around anything. I want it, I like it, it's delicious — I have no shame.'
In a phone interview last month, the globe-trotting restaurateur shared her favorite travel snacks, how she keeps in touch with her parents and the thing you'll probably see her doing while she's cooking. These are edited excerpts.
One of my favorite airplane snacks. The honey mustard flavor is specifically glorious, especially when you're flying — you know how they say your taste buds go a bit muted. These are salty, there's enough sweetness from the mustard, and the crunch is exceptional. I would rather eat five little packs of these over one meal they're offering.
I can't live without my evening WhatsApp. That can last two minutes or 45, it depends on the day and how much we have to say. Sometimes we're not saying anything at all. I worry about them. They're fine, they're healthy, they live their life, they probably have a busier social calendar than I do. But when I go to bed, I need to know that I saw their faces.
I always travel with a backward flat brim and a forward dad hat. I'll wear one and have another hanging off my backpack. The backward hat's for walking around. The forward hat's for airplanes and cars (I can't lean back with the backward). It's purely mental stability, like a security blanket.
You know when you're watching something and all of a sudden you're like, 'Oh my God, the noise is just too much'? I will sit there and mute the TV and keep watching it. It's not that I need 10 minutes of quiet, I just need a few seconds of relief. I also definitely mute during commercials.
There was a point when I wore kitchen clogs, which I found uncomfortable. Then, Birkenstocks, but your heel's exposed. Your sock's going to get soaked, especially when you're flooding the floors to clean at the end of the night. Blundstones are waterproof and they look good. I can go from the airplane to out in the wild, right into the kitchen and I feel like they fit all those scenarios.
When I opened my restaurant in the Line hotel in Austin, it was in every single room. My wife had to tell me what it was because I was like, 'What are these wooden sticks in here for?' I travel with it and when I'm in dressing rooms, studios and hotels, it just makes everything smell familiar to me, regardless of where I am.
When I'm eating different flavors throughout the day — snacking on things or trying 15 dishes on 'Top Chef' — at a certain point, my mouth starts to just feel gross. Brushing my teeth, tongue scraping and flossing help me reset a little bit.
A lot of women's pants have little pockets that go down maybe three inches. I need them to touch my thigh. Because I'm not a purse kind of person, I like to fit my wallet, keys and mints all in my pocket if I can. I have a stylist for any clothes that I wear in public or on television. When fending for myself, I'm going to wear pants that are two times too big, comfortable and with deep pockets. Lululemon dance studio relaxed fit mid-rise cargo pants are so comfortable. Not only do they have deep pockets, they also have cargo and back pockets.
My preference is the stick. I always carry it in my left pocket; that's just where it lives. I don't leave home without it and it's stashed in random places in our house — on my desk, in the junk drawer downstairs, two in our bedroom. I buy them in bulk and take great pride in finishing them.
My mom used to tell me, 'You look like I look like a cow chewing gum.' But it keeps cadence and there's something in the rhythm of chewing where if I'm doing a task, especially if I'm cooking for hours, it's a place for the anxiety to go. You know, how people relax with knee bouncing.