How does Kristen Kish feel at the top of Top Chef? It's complicated

One day last week, a vase spilling over with white lilies and roses arrived in Kristen Kish's dressing room in Milwaukee, the United States, where Top Chef is shooting its 21st season, to be telecast in 2024.

Padma Lakshmi, the Indian-American model and author who became a household name during the 17 years she hosted the US reality cooking competition show, had sent them, along with a note: "Break a leg.

I'm so proud of you kiddo." For Kish, who was so nervous on her first day on the set as Lakshmi's replacement that she thought she might throw up, the flowers were a balm.

"I know my job is to simply be me," said the Korean-American, who won Top Chef in 2013. "But I feel like I am not going to be impressive enough to hold my own space and follow in Padma's footsteps."

Truth is, the ageing Top Chef franchise, which has had its share of stumbles in an increasingly crowded constellation of food shows, needs her as much as she needs it. At 39, Kish represents a third wave of chef celebrity, far removed from pioneers like Emeril Lagasse and Bobby Flay, and the generation of tattooed, mostly white kitchen bros who followed.

Kish is a gay Korean adoptee and a proud product of the Midwest. She hits the notes sung by culinary stars before her: She co-wrote a cookbook, opened a restaurant and makes much of her living on camera, a skill she polished on several other shows before landing the Top Chef job in July.