KOREAN COMMUNITY NEWS - NOV. 2024
Kristen Kish at Floriditas, Wellington On A plate 2023
By Amalia Tempel
Kristen Kish, a renowned Korean adoptee top chef, attributes part of her drive to success to her feelings of abandonment from her birth parents. Kish, born Kwon Yung Ran in Seoul, South Korea, on December 1st, 1983, came into the world during an important time frame of the Korea's modern history. This period was characterized by the military rule of President Chun Doo-hwan and the economic growth known as “the miracle of the Han.” It was a time when the country’s societal and economic infrastructures were rapidly transforming.
After spending four months of her life living in various orphanages, Kish was adopted by an American family and brought to Michigan in the United States, where she would eventually find her love for cooking, but also have to face the emotional hardship that came with confronting her feelings of abandonment.
At the age of 5, Kish described her first time picking up a knife, which stemmed from her interest in the Discovery Channel’s Great Chefs of the World Show. At the age of 7 is the first time she tried Kimchi when her parents brought her to the Grands Rapids Food Festival and described that the flavor is something she couldn't get out of her mind. However, despite what many people may assume, Kish does not specialize in creating or making Korean dishes.
During her career, it was often assumed that she specialized in various Asian cuisines because she is ethnically Korean. But Kish states, "I don’t know anything about Korean culture. I was raised by a white family in Michigan, and I didn’t look in the mirror and think about why we didn’t all look the same." Kish acknowledges, "I love to eat Korean food, but I don't need to cook it. Other people can do it better."
She specializes in French techniques, pasta, and twisting comfort foods she had as a child, such as her grandma's stuffed cabbage. She uses cooking and food to tell the stories of her childhood. Her love for food, as she explains, has helped her explore her identity and find acceptance and healing within herself. She explains that she is now able to process her feelings of abandonment more healthily.
Kish has built an extremely successful and multifaceted career through multiple achievements and projects she has participated in. She made history as the second woman to win Top Chef and returned for the show’s 21st season as a judge and a host. She currently hosts her show The Dish with Kish, and has also been featured on other programs such as 36 Hours on the Travel Channel, Fast Foodies on TruTV, and Restaurants at the End of the World on National Geographic/Disney+. Kish is also the creator of KISH Aperitif and is working collaboratively on student-focused projects at the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts. She is also a chef and co-partner at the restaurant Arlo Grey in Austin, Texas. In the next year, Kish is looking to release her memoir Accidentally on Purpose, which offers further insight into her inspiring journey.
