Kristen Kish was born in South Korea and adopted into a family in Kentwood, MI. She showed an affinity for cooking at a young age. Her mother suggested she go to culinary school and since attending Le Cordon Bleu in Chicago, Kish has never looked back.

After moving to Boston, Kish worked in many high-profile restaurants, honing her skills in Boston for nearly 10 years. Kish competed on Bravo’s Top Chef Season 10 where she won the coveted title. She went on to become Chef de Cuisine at a Relais & Chateaux property in Boston and left this position in 2014 to travel the world and write a cookbook. 
 

Kish was co-host of “36 Hours,” a Travel Channel show that partnered with The New York Times to bring the hit newspaper column to television. In October 2017, Kish launched her first cookbook - Kristen Kish Cooking. Kish partnered with LINE Hotels in 2018 to launch her first restaurant, Arlo Grey. The restaurant reflects Kristen’s playful yet refined cuisine pulling inspiration from a French and Italian cooking background paired with a nostalgia of dishes from her upbringing to her love of travel that helped her gain an outlook on how people cook to tell their story. 
 

Kish is the co-host of “Fast Foodies” on TruTV/Food Network and the co-host of Netflix’s Iron Chef. Kish’s latest project, Restaurants At The End Of The World partners with National Geographic and premiered March of 2023. Kish serves as on-screen host and producer. She travels the world in search of people, places, cultures and traditions behind the world’s most remote restaurants. Restaurants At The End Of The World currently streams on Disney+.

 

Kish also focuses on brand partnerships and charitable work.