As the host of Top Chef, Kristen Kish is required to travel all over the world. While many (including the writer of this piece) go into panic mode at the thought of packing for a trip, Kish has a simple strategy everyone should all adopt. “I am, whenever possible, a carry-on [person],” she tells TZR. “I think that it’s a little bit stressful to worry about where your luggage is. I’m also someone who can wear the same thing. That’s the key. Wear the same thing over and over and over again.” She did note that this also depends on where you are going and your access to a washing machine, but removing the pressure of not having to conjure up a new outfit every day? Total freedom. (In addition to her magical Mary Poppins carry-on, for travel she always brings her Bose headphones and a few just-for-pleasure snacks. Packing light, comfortably, but always with intention, is Kish’s way.)

And though Kish, a former model, always looks stunning, whether on screen, shooting a campaign, or just walking down the street, her signature style begins with comfort. “I have a more polished style on television, but in my everyday life, everything is slightly oversized, and very, very comfortable,” she explains. “A lot of cotton and denim, nice oversized jackets. My wife [Bianca Dusic] constantly tells me that I buy my pants too big, but I do that because it’s more comfortable.”

Her approach to dressing is less about keeping up with trends and more about feeling good in her skin, a habit she once struggled to master. “For a very long time, I was so uncomfortable in my body and the clothes that I wore, and I was still trying to figure out who I was, so there’s a lot of discomfort in that,” Kish says. “So a lot of it [my clothes] is about peak comfort.” This is part of the reason Kish recently partnered with Allbirds, as she says so many of the brand’s styles are “universally interchangeable.” She can wear them from the kitchen to the airport to restaurants.

It’s this perfect mix of practicality and self-awareness that helped Kish, 41, tackle her latest project: a memoir. Titled Accidentally on Purpose, with the help of a co-writer, Stef Ferrari, she covers everything from her childhood as a Korean adoptee in Michigan to coming out in her late 20s. Her career story is a big part of the book as well, as she had such an enigmatic start with a win on the 10th season of Top Chef in 2013. She then went on to work as chef de cuisine at Stir and Menton in Boston before opening her restaurant, Arlo Gray, in Austin and publishing a cookbook. In 2024, she returned to Top Chef as the new host, taking over for Padma Lakshmi, and even earned an Emmy nomination for her work.

Despite being a world-class chef who travels the world to find the best cuisines, she says the best food is when the people she loves cook for her or she gets to go to a great restaurant. “It doesn’t matter what it is, but it’s comforting,” Kish said. This sense of simple contentment also helps in her discovery of food destinations when she travels. The chef never underestimates the culinary scene in a city. She points out Milwaukee, where she spent six weeks for work, as a home for excellent restaurants. “Everywhere you go, great people are telling great stories with food.” Kish also doesn’t believe in the concept of guilty pleasure food. “I don’t feel guilty, right? All foods are delicious and wonderful,” she said, naming fried chicken as a personal favorite.

To go from contestant to host in less than a decade seems like one very large career jump, but Kish sees it differently. She says it was everything in between and her relationship with herself that led her to her current gig. “Understanding who I am, what I want to say, what my true, genuine voice is, my inner confidence, all the different things that I struggled with before,” she says. “I think those are the things that I had kind of accidentally found and eventually made a purpose out of.”