March 1, 2025
Finding her own voice and staying true to her values are at the heart of Kish's engaging memoir and are the keys to her success as a chef and television personality. The Top Chef winner and host describes her path to a culinary career, from early, carefree childhood days as the adopted Korean-born daughter of a loving Michigan family to culinary school in Chicago through some rough patches in young adulthood. The journey is anything but straightforward, characterized by Kish's questioning of society's expectations and exploration of places where her natural strengths have a chance to shine. Throughout her career, Kish pays her professional dues in full and then some, which makes her so relatable, particularly as she navigates a series of chaotic, misogynistic workplace cultures. Some of her memoir's strongest moments detail the author's Top Chef triumph, her pain as a closeted gay woman in young adulthood, and her eventual coming out and living a full, authentic life.
COPYRIGHT(2025) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
March 15, 2025
TheTop Chef host describes her journey to new heights. For those who don't know, Kish is a "gay Korean adopted woman, born in Seoul, raised in Michigan" and "a chef, a character, a host, and a cultural communicator--as well as a human being with a beating heart." Though this book covers every step of her journey, every restaurant job and television role, and also discusses her experience as an adoptee (very positive) and a queer woman (late bloomer), the storytelling is so straightforward, lacking in suspense, character development, or dialogue, that it is basically a long version of its (longish) "About the Author." Seemingly dramatic situations are not dramatized--when she was eliminated on her firstTop Chef run, she assures us that she did the best she could, and drops it. "I can spare you the gory details (bouillabaisse and big personalities were involved)." Later, she cites a belief in protecting the privacy of others to omit the story of her first relationship with a woman. With no character development, neither does the reader get to know those who fall outside the privacy zone, like her best friend, Steph, and her wife, Bianca. When she gets mad, she says things like, "It's a gross understatement to say I was crushed, beyond frustrated, and furious with the situation." The fact that "I've never been a big reader" does not come as a surprise. It is more surprising when she confesses that "I believe the universe is selective about the moments in which it introduces life-changing prospects."Top Chef fans might savor this detailed account, but others will find it bland.
COPYRIGHT(2025) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
April 1, 2025
Kish (Kristen Kish Cooking), winner of Top Chef season 10 and now host of the show, shares stories from her life, from growing up as a Korean adoptee in the Midwest to coming out as an adult. She also offers a behind-the-scenes look at her career in restaurants and reality TV. Prepub Alert.
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