Bostonian Kristen Kish brought a natural likability, a competitive fire and amazing technique to "Top Chef" season 10.
She will bring her sweet personality and cooking chops (minus the need to win a quickfire challenge) to Atlanta Sunday for Taste of Atlanta. Before 40 lucky participants, she will make a vegetable bolognese sauce at 12:30 p.m. Sunday in Technology Square. Pasta, a specialty of hers, would have been too difficult to do in this type of setting, she said.
This will be Kish's first trip to Atlanta. (Treat her well, Atlantans!)
She said on the show, she has always just tried to be herself and not put on airs. She hopes to do the same at Taste of Atlanta. "I'm quirky, a little dorky," Kish said in an interview today. "I like to have fun. I like to be informative but not in a strict classroom way."
For those who need a memory refresher from late 2012 and early 2013, Kish won several challenges early on season 10 and was looking like a front runner. But she was shockingly eliminated partway through the competition after losing Restaurant Wars. She took the fall gracefully. Fortunately, there was something called "Last Chance Kitchen,"where she proved her worth, blazing through five victories and returning to the finals. She soon was crowned the second female "Top Chef" winner.
Since then, she became a chief chef at Barbara Lynch's Menton Boston. Earlier this year, she decided to leave and spend time traveling, hitting food festivals, teaching classes, doing pop-ups and experiencing life. This is why she's coming to Atlanta. In the meantime, she is getting ready to take a step many "Top Chef' contestants have gone: open her own restaurant.
"I want to gain as much experience before I take that step," Kish said. "I have a very specific vision. I have to find the right financiers, the right people to execute. I'm not going to rush the process. I don't want this to be a flash in the pan."
She isn't sure where she'll start her first restaurant but New York seems to be a major candidate.
As a Korean adoptee, she went through a phase in childhood where she wasn't comfortable in her own skin and struggled with her identity and self worth. But she feels like she has found herself and found her niche in this world. Winning "Top Chef" did not hurt.
She even had fun doing "Top Chef Duels" recently, where she faced off against the other "Top Chef" female winner Stephanie Izard, who now owns multiple restaurants. "It was much more relaxed than 'Top Chef,' " she said. "I had a lot of fun. I was less hard on myself. I just wanted to cook with someone who was as fantastic as Stephanie and see how I held up."
Ultimately, she lost but it was a close call. Izard had also done research on Kish and learned she was ironically not an expert in some Asian fare, including Thai street food. So she created the first challenge (for $10,000) around that subject and won. Kish won the next one based on pasta and pocketed $10,000 herself. Izard edged her out for the final challenge but she felt she did a respectable job against a tough rival.
Since Kish left South Korea as an infant, she has not been back, though she has expressed a desire to do so when she taped "Top Chef." She still plans to. "It's in the works," she said. "You can't snap your fingers and just go. Life happens."
Preview
Taste of Atlanta
Friday Kickoff Party: “Culinary Matrimony.” $70 advance general admission; $90 advance VIP admission (begins at 6:30 p.m.). 7:30-10:30 p.m. Oct. 24.
Taste of Atlanta: $25 advance/$35 gate general admission; $75 advance/$85 gate VIP admission. Noon-8 p.m. Oct. 25; noon-6 p.m. Oct. 26. Tech Square at Spring Street and Fifth Street, Atlanta. tasteofatlanta.com.
TASTE EXPERIENCES
Throwdown Tent, Oct. 25-26 — A new experience hosted by local radio personality Mara Davis, with chefs competing head to head each day to make the best meatballs, sandwiches, tacos, and fried chicken.
Grate Expectations, 12:30 p.m. Oct. 25 — "Food Network Star" contestant Linkie Marais takes the kitchen outside to show off the flexibility and versatility of the Big Green Egg.
The Secret's in the Sauce, 12:30 p.m. Oct. 26 — Bravo "Top Chef" Season 10 champion Kristen Kish shares her sauce cooking secrets. Space will fill up fast, so sign up early.
Gospel Brunch, 1:30 p.m. Oct. 26 — Legendary Atlanta blues singer Francine Reed joins Atlanta chefs Jay Swift of 4th & Swift and Ron Eyester of Rosebud for a joyous Sunday brunch.
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