Kristen Kish, the acclaimed chef and victor of season 10, is the main host this season, introducing a unique viewpoint, innovative rules, and unexpected twists. Yolanda Lenge from GLAAD recently interviewed Kish, discussing the themes of diversity and inclusion in this season, her personal connection to the culinary arts, and her experience coming back to Top Chef as the host.
Kristen shared insights into her journey from being a contestant on Top Chef to becoming a host, shedding light on the advantages of staying authentic to oneself. “I struggled with trying to figure out what my food was, and it really wasn’t until I was fully accepting of myself and my personal life that I was able to translate that into my professional life. Rather than cooking with my head, I cook with my heart but I also pulled inspiration by way of my upbringing, my experiences, my travels, my point of view. Quite frankly the only story I can tell through food is mine and that’s the only story I need to be telling. I deeply encourage chefs to also do the same thing, dig deep a little bit, you know and that can come out in so many different ways.”
Kish talked about her experience from Top Chef contestant to host and what the actual process of the show feels like, “The beauty of the whole thing is really truly and I mean this, whether there’s like little tips between people or not or whether people become your best friends and your family afterwards or not, everyone, they are really truly there to support this journey in this process. From the judges to the chefs, to the chefs, the guest judges, like it all is working together to create hopefully something bigger and better and greater. So, I know when I left top chef as a contestant, I felt more confident in a lot of things about me. I felt more included in a lot of different spaces.”
Kish also mentioned how supported she felt by the LGBTQ community after her time on Top Chef and how it helped her find her queerness. “Top Chef was like a door opening to different parts of me, like the adoptee community and the Asian American community. Then like all of a sudden you realize that you got a bunch of people out there like that have your back and that’s such a really special feeling. I was learning a lot about myself in the process, you know, to know what it means to be part of the queer community. I was so scared to come out in a lot of ways and I think a lot of people have their own journey about how we come to that place and to have this very public moment and having kind of like this fanbase that then embraced me into their community. It was a great welcome party. I felt very happy and I felt really grateful to have people supporting me in that way.”
Following the premiere, BravoTV.com introduced a fresh digital after-show called “The Dish with Kish,” sponsored by Saratoga® Spring Water and hosted by Kristen Kish. In this aftershow, Kish will be accompanied by a former contestant from “Top Chef.” Together, they will analyze and discuss all the culinary events from the latest episode, while also creating a new dish inspired by the challenges faced in that episode. This will provide viewers with valuable insights into the creativity and techniques employed in the creation of winning dishes. Additionally, several notable “Top Chef” winners, finalists, and fan favorites including Gregory Gourdet, Stephanie Izard, Mei Lin, Buddha Lo, Amar Santana, Joe Sasto, and Marcel Vigneron will join Kish in the kitchen to share their thoughts on the culinary action and provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse.
Season 21 of Top Chef on Bravo with an entire season of supersized episodes cooks up every Wednesday night from 9 -10:15 p.m. Episodes will be available the next day on Peacock.