Accidentally on purpose : a memoir

Accidentally on purpose A memoir

Kristen Kish, 1983-

Book - 2025

"Kristen Kish never could have imagined people on the street knowing her name--not when she was a carefree softball-tossing kid, in high school working at a pretzel stand, and not even when she finally found her true calling as a chef. In those early days, becoming a chef meant tethering oneself to a restaurant and working in the back of a kitchen, not a television set. But working in the spotlight happened naturally, even if the attention was totally unanticipated. And like most things in Kristen's life, the road was so much more winding and complicated than it may have appeared from the outside. From growing up as an adopted in the Midwest, to trying to fit in with all the other girls who were busy dating boys, to coming out and... finding love when she least expected it, Kristen learned that, unlike a map, no set of plans or definitions can dictate or explain a life. In fact,accidents happen. Curveballs will come. And even the full-circle moments--like winning Top Chef to becoming its Emmy-nominated host years later--could not have guaranteed these opportunities. In Accidentally on Purpose, what defines Kristen's story aren't the missteps or even the pleasant surprises that crop up but how she learned to find her voice and use it. Because while accidents may be unexpected, they don't have to be at odds with purpose. And as Kristen approaches life's milestones, big and small, with intention, she realizes at those junctures--the ones beyond the borders of the map, behind-the-scenes, and off camera--are where the decisions and discoveries are made. Where the unexpected meets the intentional. And that's where things get really interesting"--

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641.5092/Kish
0 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
2nd Floor New Shelf 641.5092/Kish (NEW SHELF) Due May 27, 2025
Subjects
Kish, Kristen, > 1983- > author.
Top chef (Television program)
Television personalities > United States > Biography.
Women cooks > United States > Biography.
Cooks > United States > Biography.
Korean American women > Biography.
Autobiographies.
Genres
Autobiographies
Published
New York : Little, Brown and Company 2025.
Language
English
Main Author
Kristen Kish, 1983- (author)
Other Authors
Stef Ferrari (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
340 pages ; 25 cm
ISBN
9780316580915
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

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.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

In her delightful debut memoir, Top Chef host Kish (It's All in the Sauce, a children's cookbook) covers her early experiences in the kitchen and the path to her TV breakthrough. Born in 1983 Seoul and adopted by American parents in Michigan, Kish details a mostly ordinary childhood laced with spaghetti with red sauce and Creamsicle sodas. Encouraged by her mother to explore her affinity for cooking as a teenager, Kish paid a visit to Le Cordon Bleu in Chicago. After enrolling in and graduating from the culinary school, Kish moved to Boston, where she worked under chef Barbara Lynch at Stir and dabbled in cocaine and alcohol while finding her footing in the pressure-filled world of fine dining. Her winning run on Top Chef gets a lot of play in the narrative, as do inspiring encounters with the likes of Emeril Lagasse and Padma Lakshmi, whom Kish replaced as host of Top Chef in 2023. Also touching are sections about Kish coming out as gay to her family and friends after her professional success bolstered her confidence. Self-assured yet down-to-earth, Kish's account will resonate with aspiring chefs and Top Chef fans alike. Agent: David Forrer, InkWell Management. (Apr.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review

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 (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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