Two Dudes and a Top Chef

Top Chef winner Kristen Kish joins the guys with amazing stories from her new show “Restaurants at the End of the World”! 

Find out why she doesn’t eat her own food! 

Plus, Hangry Alert! Wells is on a fast and it’s not going well. Can Tyler talk him down? 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Two Dudes in a Kitchen with Tyler Florence and
Wells Adams, an iHeartRadio podcast. All right time another episode
of Two Dudes in a Kitchen. I'm Wells Adams alongside
the beautiful Hey Tyler Florence. How is everybody doing today?
I'm doing great. Man. I'm on a like a fast
right now, so this episode probably is going to be
painful for me, So tell me about that, because I

(00:23):
do that every day. So there's is like a long
term fast, like like more than twenty four hours, or
you usually go in like, you know, twelve fifteen hours.
What are you doing? I'm trying to do twenty four
And the reason why I'm doing this is I think
it was last episode, maybe the episode before that you
told me that's what you do. And then I've been
seeing on TikTok and Instagram a lot of people are
saying that this is like a really good health benefit.
So I'm gonna try it out. But I might get

(00:44):
hanger in the middle of the episode, so who knows.
You know, you gotta train your body because it's like
mind over matter. The first couple of days you do that,
you will start to flip out. After about eight hours
or nine hours. Is this your first day doing this
right now? Yeah? Are watching this from real time as
this is happening now. The live experiment continues, But I

(01:06):
think if you give it like a week, you'll start
to stop craving food for ten hours a day, which
is just kind of wild. Like right now you and
I were doing this, It's twelve thirty twelve thirty two.
I haven't eat anything all day long other than like
two cups of coffee in a bottle of water, and
I'm not going to eat anything until dinner tonight, and

(01:28):
got reservations at seven o'clock. Speaking of coffee, I don't
know if you saw this, but I saw that Starbucks
is rolling out a new line of beverages that's made
with extra virgin olive oil, which that sounds interesting. I
guess I've heard of people putting butter in their coffee
and syrup in their coffee, but have you heard of
this olive oil trend? I heard about it happening in Europe.

(01:50):
Is it happening in America? Right now? I saw like
some like Starbucks in Italy specifically, we're like infusing extra
virgin olive oil into their coffee, and I'm thinking it's
got to be some Omega three fat thing that they're
adding into the coffee itself. From a health befit standpoint,
it sounds like bullet coffee because I can't imagine what,

(02:11):
you know, like an oil slig on top of a
cappuccino would add to a flavor profile. I'm having a
hard time putting that one together, Like do you want
mayonnaise on your coffee? I just don't know. If it
sounds kind of gross, yeah, I feel like if it
did come from Italy, which I believe that it did,
like they just inject olive oil into their veins at
this point. They do drink it. They drink it. They

(02:31):
drink it a lot. And every time I go to Italy,
I feel like I bathed in it. I washed my
hair with it. I mean, I definitely consume a lot
of olive oil, and I do anyway. I mean, for
the most part, that's my biggest fat that I cook with.
Olive oil itself, to me is one of my favorite.
It's my go to sautee fat that I cook with
all the time, you know, And I get that a lot,
like what do you cook? Would you cook with vegetable oil,

(02:52):
do you cook with extra virgin olive oil? And I
just kind of put extra virgin olive oil and everything. Okay,
let's talk about that because I think this is important
because a lot of people, I think don't understand like
the value of knowing what smoke point is with different
types of fats and oils. So maybe kind of explain
that to people, like why olive oil is really good

(03:13):
to cook with, but sometimes you should cook with canola
oil or with butter. Well. I think a lot of
those oils, for the most part, they have like a
distinctive flavor that I don't necessarily enjoy, right, So to me,
when I'm tasting like vegetable oil or I taste canola oil,
I don't like it because I think it smells awful.
And now they're super light, clean oils that I like

(03:36):
working with. Like I love avocado oil. I think it's
really nice. I like Rice brand oil, which I think
is really super clean. So in like the upper echelons
of cooking, right, Like, so let's just say salmon at
home versus salmon in my restaurant, right, So, if I've
got you know, wild Scottish salmon that I'm flying in

(03:56):
and I've got this like super succulent skin on, you know,
five and a half ounce portion that I've scored and
then maybe wrapped in combo for four or five hours
to kind of get a little compression on it, a
little sort of like like dry brine. I don't want
to cook that in olive oil because all I want
to taste is the succulent salmon. So then we're gonna

(04:16):
go with a super light, super clean oil that we
can extract the fat and get that bacon layer on
top of the skins. You get that contrast between crispy
and blubberry now that I'm into all day long. But
if I'm at home and I've got some really great
salmon that i picked up at the fish market and
I'm just kind of cooking dinner or I'm gonna put
it on the grill, I'm putting extra virgin olive oil
on that stuff all day long, and I don't even

(04:38):
think about it because I think it really kind of
matches like the robust side of my cooking style, which
I just love like grilled, smoky, meaty flavors, and I
think the extra virgin olive oil really kind of adds
to that. I don't know what it adds to coffee
to take this conversation full circle, but I definitely love
the flavor of extra virgin olive oil on most things
for sure. Have you heard the it's like an old

(04:59):
hy tail hack. I guess that if you drink a
shot of olive oil before you go out and drink alcohol,
then you'll it'll stop your hangover, which just sounds like
it'll give you diarrhea. But I've heard that that's a thing.
I think you're kind of right. It's like, I mean,
I think you know, fat absorbs alcohol without a question,
you know, say, it's probably the same thing of like,

(05:21):
you know, eating a greasy cheeseburger to kind of make
you feel better after your hangover. I can make that.
I don't. I don't have anything to scientifically to back
it up with it, but I could. I could put
some rash now behind it to make that makes sense. Yeah,
it makes sense. Um well, I love that. I love
learning about like what oils are good and what oils
are bad. And I think we've gotten to a place
in our society where we're realizing that that fat is

(05:44):
not the enemy per se, and especially if you're trying
to be be healthier, like you're finding out that olive
oils and animal fats are are actually very good for you,
and the conola oils and the vegetable oils are actually
could be bad for you in comparison to the olive
oils and the avocado oils out there. Yeah, without a doubt. Yeah,

(06:08):
I wanted to shift gears because my sister the other night, um, well,
for Christmas, she wanted a brand new set of nice
so we got her some like a whole woostuff set,
which I believe is like a good type of knife fancy.
And she cut her finger on Christmas Eve and I
felt terrible for it, and she had to go, she
had to go get some stitches. Did you get Christmas stitches?

(06:30):
He got Christmas stitches. And listen, this is a shout.
It's my sister for being about up the street. Is
a doctor who stitched her up, but she didn't have
any like painkillers, so she sat there and did it
and just like, let this guy stitch her up. This
is a bad and she's had four kids, so you know,
I'm sure that wasn't the most painful things she's had
to endure. But it made me think, yeah, once you
go through childbirth, who cares about ses? Yeah? But it

(06:51):
made me think food injuries. And I imagine that you've
had some crazy food injuries in your time. What's the
craziest food injury that you've seen in the kitchen? Oh,
my gosh, man, I've seen I've seen like horror shows
in the kitchen. I mean absolute horror shows. First of all,
I've had stitches in every one of my figures, right,
every one of them. I mean, because we're just talking
about this in Miami, because we did this collaborative dinner

(07:14):
with a restaurant called Claw in downtown Miami, and uh,
and there was this young come in the kitchen, you know,
and and she had these like horrible pock mark burns
all up and down her arms and stuff like that.
Like so it was so disturbing, so much so I
had to kind of pull her aside and talk about that.
I'm like, are you just like being careful when you
cook in the kitchen, because you've got to be really

(07:35):
careful with those burns, because like I've got like burns
on my arms right now that that are twenty years old, right,
you know, like these scars and stuff like that. And luckily,
where I'm in my professional career, I'm not like humping
it on the grill every night. But sometimes when you
when you get those those crazy big burns when you're
doing this professionally, you're gonna live with those for quite

(07:58):
some time. So I think you gotta be really really
careful with your skin when it comes to burns. Also,
what cuts, um, You know, the most important thing is
to keep your knife sharp, right, um. And the most
important reason why it is that you know, if you've
got a sharp knife, you're not putting a lot of
pressure behind that slice. But if you've got a doll knife,
you're putting your arm into it because you've got to

(08:19):
like muscle through cutting that tomato or muscle through cutting
that loaf of bread. And then that's when you're really
really going to cut yourself if you slip, just because
like even a doll knife is crazy sharp, it will
tear it through your skin. And also a sharp knife
makes a really clean cut versus a doll knife, they'll
make a jagged cut. Um. So I think that's the
first thing you really want to think about. And obviously

(08:39):
your sister found out firsthand, that brandy knives are incredibly sharp,
so you always want to be really really careful. And
then the other thing when it comes to you know, tools,
you maintaining the health of your tools and the kitchen's
gonna be really important. And then the other thing you
got to think about is just you know what they
call the claw. Okay, so you're not going to chop
something with your hand out open, and so because this

(08:59):
thing is like sharp like a shark's tooth, and this
thing is soft and full of blood, and this knife
is going to win every single time, right, So you
want to you want to take your hands and you
want to kind of curl them up like a claw,
and then with the pressure of your fingertips, you want
to hold that onto the onion, you know, the head
of lettuce, the radish, the the you know asparagus spears

(09:22):
or whatever you kind of holding onto. And so the
pressure from your your the tips of your fingers are
going to hold the ingredient in place, while the knife
itself is going to go up against the knuckle. Right,
so you're going to keep the side of the blade
as you're chopping up against the side of your knuckles.
So there's nearly nothing sticking out to slice it too,
and that's where you're really going to protect yourself. It's

(09:44):
just kind of mastering that professional knife cut. And there's
tons of videos online on YouTube to be able to
kind of learn how to master this, and there's no
trophy for finishing first. So I mean, take your time
nice knife cuts, don't go too fast, but trying not
to get cut in the kitchen. It's gonna with keeping
your knives nice and healthy. And the second of all,
it's just kind of learning where your fingers are. And

(10:04):
unfortunately it took me a long time to figure that
out because, like I said, I've had stitches every single
one of them. Yeah, the one thing that I have
a problem with with the clause is my thumb tends
to come out a little bit, and I really need
to work on the thumb staying in there. The other
thing that you guys taught me on Worst Cooks, which
I've used in my regular life and taught many people
out there, is that when you're cutting something that's not

(10:26):
uniformly flat, it tends to roll around, and the way
around that is to make sure you give it a
flat edge so it can lay down flat and then
start cutting. Yeah, like an onion for example, right, So
you're not going to cut an onion into a dice
from around baseball shape. You want to cut it in half. First.
You've got a nice flat plane, so it sits nice

(10:47):
and stable on a counter, so you can get those
really nice knife cuts without rocking back and forth. That's
for sure. Going back to the burns, one thing that
I wish my parents had taught me as a child
was never cook bacon with your shirt off. That's a
thank for you you do that. I remember being in
college and being hung over be like I watched that

(11:08):
bag and then making it, you know, like right out
of bed, and then you know, it pops and it
gets on your body and that doesn't feel good. But
I do think that, yes, wear a shirt when you're
cooking bacon. But you've always taught me that when you
are placing something into hot oil, to do it in
a certain way. Yeah, for sure. I mean so, so

(11:30):
when it comes to burning yourself, there's a couple of
you know, uh, kind of pinch point moments where it's
definitely gonna happen. Right, So you're gonna you're gonna burn
yourself from hot splattering oil. Okay, You're gonna burn yourself
from grabbing the handle of something coming out of the oven, right,
And you're gonna possibly burn yourself from someone else taking

(11:53):
a hot pan out of the oven and not telling
anybody else in the kitchen that it's hot. Okay, So
let's take those one at a time. Right. So, if
you're if you're talking about oil splatter, all right, So
the most important thing to do is to make sure
that you're dropping you know, if you're gonna saute, you know,
a piece of salmon or a chicken breast and hot
olive oil, right, So you want to make sure that

(12:15):
you've taken off as much extra moisture off of the
protein itself. Right, So drying off your chicken breast, drying
off your salmon filet before you put that into the
oil will reduce splatter because there's not enough moisture um
that would want to escape in the hot oil. Because
oil and water not buddies. They never have been, never

(12:35):
will be. Right, So, if your protein is nice and dry,
dropping it into the fat, it's gonna it's gonna reduce
how much splatter you're gonna get. If you're saut telling
wet food and like that that water is just gonna
start popping all over the place. Right, So that's the
first thing. Make sure that you're you're drying your protein off.
The second thing is you want to drop it off
relatively close to the pan. Now, it's gonna feel a

(12:56):
little dangerous just because like you, like that's f and hot,
and then I'm gonna, you know, and I'm gonna drop
my protein into this, and it feels a little scary,
but it's it's much more delicate and quicker with less
splatter if you can drop it off as close to
the oil as possible. Then the third thing you want
to think about is dropping off away from you, not
towards you. Right. So if you're gonna drop the protein

(13:17):
towards you, that splatter, if it goes anywhere, it's gonna
go on your shirt and ask for you well as
it could go on your your naked super sexy chest,
my friend, your nipples. Right. I think it will only
take once, right for most people, if you know, it
would probably only take once. But then so you want
to you want to drop it away from you, not
towards you, right, um, which will feel really really important.

(13:37):
And then the other two things I think is really
important when it comes to UM maintaining a good healthy
UM you know, burn free kitchen is to make sure
you got tons of dry towels laying around, right, because
if you've got a wet towel right the the the
it's gonna get so steamy hot, so incredibly fast because
it only takes like two hundred and twelve degrees or

(14:00):
for water to turn into steam. And if you've been
cooking at three fifty three seventy five four hundred and
you take something out like that, heat transfer is going
to go through the moisture in the towel and you're
gonna steam yourself with a bad burn so incredibly fast.
It's gonna it's not gonna feel funny. Right, So you
can't touch hot pans with damp towels. Don't do it.

(14:21):
You're gonna burn yourself. Okay, So you need to make
sure that you've got plenty of dry towels around and
make sure you've got thick towels all right, So if
you've got things to kind of feel like t shirts,
or if you've got like really old kitchen towels, you know,
go to Williamsnoma, go whatever. Just grab a new stack
of kitchen towels this weekend, I think will be really
really important. And if you've got one that you're kind

(14:42):
of like slopping stuff up with right, like you kind
of wiping the tomato juice off your counter or whatever
it is, keep one dry specifically for touching handles. And
I think that'll be really really important. And then because
like I think, sometimes when people get burned, they'll grab
a towel off the counter quick and then they'll pull
something out of the oven and they won't take two
seconds to think through is my towel wet. They'll just

(15:04):
grab something right away and then boom, they're gonna get burned. Because,
like I said, it only takes two hundred twelve degrees
to turn water into steam, and that steam will happen
in your hand right so you're gonna get burned pretty quick.
And the other thing, last thing we'll talk about as
far as mitigating burns in the kitchen is if you
pull a hot pan out of the oven and you
and you put it on the countertop, cover the handles

(15:25):
with towels, because I think that'll be a really good
um signal to anybody else in the kitchen not to
touch it. And if they do touch it, they're gonna
touch a towel before they touch the hot metal. So
I think three things to think about to mitigate burns
in the kitchen. And you should be okay speaking of oil,
you know, after the process of let's say deep frying
something or making bacon, you have all of this excess

(15:48):
oil and you know you've been told like you're not
supposed to put that down the drain, like you should
put it in like my mother like reserves it and
Nick uses bacon fat later. What is your method of
um of like either disposing or keeping used oil. Yeah,
it's well, we have delic containers, um and in the house,

(16:10):
and most of the delic containers come from the restaurant.
But if you go on Amazon and you just kind
of type in, you know, delicate, you know, plastic delic containers,
and we have them in court sizes. We have them
in and uh eight ounce sizes and then and then
four ounce sizes. Just because you know, we're always doing
like what they call MEAs and plasts of the house.

(16:31):
We always have events. And then as a chef, I
just have you know, a ton of stuff for cooking,
and we pack it up in delic containers and then
we often use those too, you know, to get rid
of excess oil if we're gonna be frying, or for
using bake and grease, exactly what you're talking about. So
I'll get a small container UM with UM with UM
UM bake and grease, and then yeah, of course you

(16:52):
want to make sure it's cooled down before you pour
it to a container so it doesn't melt, the melt
the plastic, and then I'll put I'll put a lid
on top of that, and then I'll recycle that and'll
fold that into the recycling bin UM taped up really
really well. So because then when it hits the recycling center,
it usually gets processed because now they almost dump everything
into one big bin. They separate and sorts. They usually

(17:12):
they can process use cooking oils and recycling UM UM
situations like that the recycling centers in your community. So
that's what I normally do, just to get it out
of the kitchen. UM. Now, if we're if we're um
you know, if we're if you're talking about the restaurant, right,
So if we're emptying out the friar, right, and we
will have like you know, God, you know, twenty gallons

(17:34):
of connal oil have been frying French fries in all night.
So that gets chilled down and then that gets put
back into the container that it came in. And then
there's there's uh groups in San Francisco, I'm sure they're
all over the country that will come pick it up
for free and then they do crazy stuff with it.
There's like a startup that is taking cooking oil and
turning it to biofuels for cars, which is really kind

(17:55):
of interesting. Uh, there's another company that's taken it and
turn into soap. I mean, I don't even know how
they pros that, but I don't ask questions. I just
give it to them. Um. So, lots of ways you
can you can kind of get rid of that, and
you're absolutely right to don't. You don't want to pour
it into the garbage bag because like, raccoons freaking love
that stuff and they will tell your garbage bags apart.
And you definitely don't want to pour down the sink

(18:17):
and that stuff's gonna lock up and then you will
you will be calling the plumber in no time at all, So,
do you not believe in the reserving bacon fat for
cooking use later? Yeah, dude, I mean that's the other thing.
I mean, bacon fat like just like kind of melted,
and you know, if you take a little bit of
bacon fat and kind of melt it down and do
a bacon fat olive oil blend if you're sauteing something. OMG.

(18:41):
Like if you want to take a little bit of
bacon fat and smear it on a steak as it
comes off the grill, O o MG. You know, if
you want to take like the bacon fat and then
fold it into a little bit of mayonnaise if you're
gonna make a blt sandwich O o MG. Right, So,
there's lots of ways that bacon fat taste delicious, because
like pork fat is awesome, and you can make vinagrettes

(19:01):
with it, and you can you know, you can kind
of fold it into a pie crust. I mean, there's
lots of different ways you can kind of use that
fat before you throw it away. But am I wrong
to say though, that you do need to strain it
to make sure you get the like the meat, the
meat particles out of the fat before you keep it
or it could go bad. Yeah. So usually um, like

(19:24):
what they call a shenwan in a kitchen or a
fine mesh strainer with a coffee filter will take out,
you know, one hundred percent of the particulate before you
store it, so you get a pretty nice, clean, fluffy
fat when it starts to um you know, starts to set.
And then do you refrigerate that or can it stay
in room temperature? You can? You can tell refrigerate it right,
you can. You can freeze it if you just want

(19:45):
to pack it away for something else. Yeah, totally speaking
of freezing stuff, I've been seeing this trend on TikTok
a lot which I thought is cool and it's uh,
people are making sauces or stocks or something and then
then putting it into ice trays and then having like
a like a very concentrated I guess, like piece of

(20:07):
stock in an ice tray. Is that a thing that
we should all be doing? I think that's a great idea. Man,
Do you do you make stock? Because when we write recipes,
I mean we think about like what's doable. And my
producer partner a Manda Gold, you know, and she was
a recipe writer with the San Francisco Chronicle for a
long time and we've done like four books together. And

(20:28):
she's a mom and so you know, she's always my
bellweather of what that you know, that moment when you
read a recipe and you're like, Okay, I'm out right,
I'm not gonna do it, And it's usually when it
comes to stock. So when we write recipes, we always
call from box chicken broth because it's so great and
it's readily available and you always have it. You can
always get it. But when it comes to making chicken stock,

(20:49):
I think or beef stock or whatever you want to make,
or even like flavored ice cubes, which are kind of fun.
I mean, you could definitely kind of take what you're
working on and kind of go down the rabbit hole
as far as like if you're gonna freeze something that
you're going to be using to infuse something else. There's
lots of ways to really kind of think through what
that is. My daughter is a huge TikTok fan. And

(21:09):
then there's this like there's you know, there's a whole
genre of like ice cube artists that make we're talking
about they make like really like that they'll make confused
ice cubes to fold into iced tea, right, which is
kind of fun. Um or you know, when to answer
your question on chicken stock. Um, if there's if you've
got if you've got a roasted chicken leftover, and then

(21:31):
you know, and you really like these kind of projects.
I mean, you really got to like to cook and
stuff like that, um to be able to you know,
chicken carcass into a pot um with carrot, celery, onion, um,
you know what they call maripoa with you know a
you know, the a lemon, zest, garlic cloves, black pepper
or fresh time, and you make a really robust chicken stock.

(21:52):
I mean some of those things are just absolutely delicious.
Chill it down, strain it, um, and then pour that
into an ice cube, a freeze it and then you
can kind of take that out and then you know,
you could fortify a risotta with it. I think that'd
be really delicious. Um. You can you know, fortify a
soup if you if you're just gonna make like a
vegetable based soup and you need some like, you know,

(22:13):
a chicken stock punch to really kind of give it
some flavor. I think that's a really great thing to
think about too. So yeah, to answer your questions, lots
lots of waste, you can really can do that. I
don't think it's for everybody because it's just sort of like,
you know, kind of laborious kitchen stuff. But if you're
if that's your jam, yeah for sure. One of the
reasons why I do because I will agree with you,
like box chicken broth is so much either or chicken

(22:34):
stock or vegetable stock is so much easier to use.
But I always get a rotisserie chicken when I go
to the grocery store because I always make a chicken
salad and then I'll have like a you know, a
thigh or a leg for like just a lunch. But
one of my problems is that I just feel so
wasteful when I've got this kind of carcass left over.
And I usually always have like half an onion somewhere.

(22:56):
I've always got celery and carrots because I like the
humus with them and the that kind of stuff. So
I'm always I've always got this stuff around, and I'm like,
this is so great. Always make a stock real quick.
And the difference between rice with water that you make
or rice with stock is I think like a complete
game changer. I love that. I think it's a great idea.

(23:17):
And so instead if you've just got like a little
bit of chicken leftover, or you've got like, you know,
some carrot peelings or a quarter of anne and you're
not going to use I think if you can start
to collect those things, if you get like large ziplock bags, yeah,
and just you know, just have one bag on your
freezer filled with trimmings, right, you know, Parsley stems, fresh

(23:38):
time stems, you know, anything that feels leftover that kind
of feels like it's got some culinary value, you know,
because everything does, even like trims have a culinary value.
So you can just throw them into a bag and
kind of write like you know, stockpot on the on
the front of it, and then just tossing the freezer
and including like you know, a chicken carcass or two,
Like if you know you burnt that kind of stuff

(23:59):
on a regular base, you can save until you get
like three carcasses and then you get a back full
of trem means and Okay, this is my Saturday, and
I'm gonna burnt this stuff and make a bunch of stock,
because you're absolutely right. It's like that last little like
hit of you know, protein and flavor that you know
it's undeniable. And I think that's a real kind of
pro step pro tip that you're thinking about fresh chicken

(24:23):
stock and box chicken broth. Yeah they're cousins, but they're
not the same thing. Yeah, like fresh chicken stock tastes
so much better, but it's a hundred times to work
than not everyone's willing to put into a dish like that.
But I like where you're going with that. It's a
good idea. That's great. Well, I think we're gonna take
a quick break, but well when we come back, we're

(24:44):
gonna have our guests on Two Dudes in the Kitchen.
Her her name is Kristen Kish. She is a winner
of the tenth season of Top Cheft and she has
like seven other cooking shows that we're going to talk
to her about. This is going to be exciting and
fun and we'll see if she's making stock. I imagine
she is. All right, welcome back to Two Dudes in

(25:06):
a Kitchen. Wells Adams and Tyler Florence here, and we
are now joined on the show by the winner of
the tenth season of Top Chef, Kristen Kish. How are you,
I'm well, how are you? I'm doing pretty good. Me
and my wife love Top Chef awesome and also like
we're I guess we're all reality TV. How much did

(25:29):
you love watching that back? Yeah? You know, I think
the first like one or two episodes, you're just like
cringing because at the sound of your own voice. Yeah,
and I'm watching myself because you know, as you go
through that you certainly feel everything, but when you're watching
it as a viewer, you don't know exactly what is
like what everyone is feeling. So it was like this

(25:51):
this weird out of body experience, also really uncomfortable, and
I gotta say, like, I will never make any of
the dishes that I made on Top Chef ever again.
I was like, what were you thinking? But clearly it
worked out well. Yeah. What was what was your favorite
part of doing that show? And what was your least
favorite part? You know, I didn't want to go on

(26:11):
that show, and I feel like a lot of people
that apply, they're like, we're gonna go we want to
be on Top Chef. We're gonna go compete and do
this thing. For me, It was I don't want to go.
My boss at the time was like, no, you're going,
and I said no. We went back and forth a
couple of times. Did you apply or did like he
apply for you? So I but yeah, Barbara. So she

(26:32):
she was like, hey, Kristen, they're asking, the producers are
asking if there's any women in my company that would
be really good for the show. And she was like,
I put your name in the bucket. And I was like,
m bad idea, bad idea, social anxiety, very awkward, super nervous,
just like a ball of nerves. And she was like, no,
I did it. And then it was kind of this

(26:52):
back and forth yes or no, and I just eventually
just said yes, I think out of complete defeat to her. Yeah. So,
Barbara Lynch, we're just talking about that, so everybody at
home can follow along. And this was at Mental in
the restaurant in Boston, right correct, yep? And legacy legendary

(27:13):
restaurant in Boston. Can you talk about that for a second,
like gave everybody of a background kind of where you
came from. Yeah. So when I first started working for Barbara,
I started at Stir, which is a ten seat tasting menu,
ten people only a night kind of thing. Menu changes
every single evening. I do everything from peel my own
carrot to wash my own bowl, to put away my
own pots and pants. And then after Top Chef, she

(27:34):
was like, Okay, clearly you're made for something bigger, so
let's move you over to my relay chateau property, super
fine dining like traditional tasting menu restaurant. Like. It was insane,
and I gotta tell you, I'm glad I went to
know that I don't ever want to do that again.
And she she was the one of the greatest people

(27:56):
to ever grace my like come into my life. Basically
she changed everything for me. But I also realized, like
in that moment in that kitchen, it was not healthy.
It wasn't healthy for me, and it just ultimately, you know,
made me realize that I wanted something different, and was
that television Like, because watching television, you know, from my perspective,

(28:20):
always kind of feels like an outer body experience, right
like you were there, but then when you go back
and you watch the edit, so it's going to be
sort of a different reality of what was actually happened,
or at least a different perspective of what actually happened,
and so you're kind of watching this and then when
did you You've clearly like gotten the bug and fallen
in love with television because now you have this sort
of heavy career with you know, television shows on different networks.

(28:43):
I mean, you're kind of right now. So congratulations on that,
by the way, and we definitely want to hear about
your new show on Natgo Restaurants to the End of
the World. Yes, thank you God. I definitely want to
hear about that. But that sort of crossover moment that
you were just talking about, like, Okay, restaurant life for
me at this level is not my thing. It is
your thing because you're that talented. But what was that

(29:04):
breaking point where like, Okay, I just kind of I
like it, but I just kind of don't want to
do it, you know. I think it was that restaurant specifically.
And I will say, as much as I felt I
was ready for that position, I look back on it
and I'm like, maybe I wasn't quite ready for it.
I didn't have the leadership skills that I felt like
looking back, that I needed to run that kitchen. I

(29:25):
was managing a brigade of twenty something real dudes. So
and I was not even thirty myself, so it was
a little bit difficult. And my sus chefs were not
chosen by me, they were given to me, and so
there was a lot of things that weren't set up
for my best interests, I guess, I would say. So

(29:46):
therefore I wasn't able to excel or succeed in my
own way. And so when I was ready to move on,
I told Barbara. I was like, listen, I don't have
the patience for this bullet anymore. I just don't. I
don't want to do it. I love the cooking, I
love the restaurant, but just the politics of things of kitchens.
And she was like, you know what, You're right, you

(30:06):
don't need this. You just want to a television show
like go out, explore, do what you want to do
and see what else is out there. And so she
was the first person that I told and the first
person to encourage me to actually do it too. I
love that you traded the politics for the restaurant for
the politics of Hollywood because you've done so many shows.
Now you've done a thing that's really hard to do,

(30:28):
which is go from being a reality TV contestant to
being a reality TV host. And we were just going
like kind of through your Wikipedia. You've done so many shows,
thirty six hours on Travel Channel, co host of Fast
Foodies on True TV, co host of Iron Chef. You
have this new show. From someone who was thinking that

(30:50):
they were not going to even do Top Chef to
now doing all of this? What changed? You know what?
The most interesting thing about this and when I set
up like all my characteristics for someone um anxious, nervous,
socially awkward, unsure of myself, all the things that is
not the recipe of kind of person you want to

(31:11):
put on television. How well, you haven't met a lot
of actors yet, I thought, I'm married to one. Trust me,
they're all like that. And maybe that's maybe that's the
secret sauce. It's like owning these like neuroses that we
all carry, that quite frankly, the majority of the public has,
and then we get to show them on television and
be genuinely ourselves. And I think what shifted was the

(31:35):
more and more I became myself and honest with myself
publicly and personally, the more and more these television opportunities
kept coming my way. I was like, hold on, wait
a second, so you're telling me the weirder I am
and the most awkward version of myself I am, I
get these jobs and then like how is this even possible?

(31:58):
But what I realized is obviously tell television these days
has certainly come into a place where people are just
looking for people that are like them so they don't
feel alone, whether it be reality or scripted or something.
People want to see themselves on the screen, whether that's
representation of your culture or your gender, or just the
weird that we possesses humans. And I think that's probably

(32:21):
what changes is I got real comfortable with who I am,
what I wanted to be, and the things that I
don't want. I think the reality world because I was
just talking to a friend of mine and the night
as a comedian, and we were sort of making this like,
you know, the connection between you know, the the authentic self. Right.
So if you're if you're a comedian like you, your
opportunities are stand up comedy, which kind of relates to

(32:44):
a restaurant because you're kind of doing that live, and
then you you kind of open yourself up to the
acting world and then also to the reality world, and
a lot of comedians are crossing over to that right now.
But what we kind of took away from a conversation
and how I think we relate to everybody is is
we're real people, right, and so we're not actors who
are playing a character. We're real people that are just

(33:06):
telling a story, um and and really kind of celebrating
what you know, everybody on the planet does one to
three times a day, and that's eat a really kind
of great plate of food, a really kind of wonderful meal.
So we're connecting with people on a primal level. And
what I really like about your career and what it's
just been awesome to watch because you were so gracious
to uh, to co judge one of one of my

(33:28):
shows that didn't quite make it. It was it was
it was. It was great, you know on paper. But
we did the show together called Fight Club, and we
shot in Austin and we got a chance to kind
of hang out with you, and you're just so like
real and quick and your you know, your opinion and
your thought process and how you relate to people. I
think it's just so likable, right, and so when when

(33:49):
you're on camera, like your persona just shines on through
whatever situation it is because what they're coming for is
your personal perspective on They're staying for the adventure, but
they come for you first and foremost. And that's what
I really like about where you're going right now. Well,
thank you very much. Ill can I have that all

(34:12):
in writing to then pitch other people so they're like, look,
I'm a real good person. I don't know about you. Christmas,
I've had like I've had I don't know, thirteen shows, right,
I mean it's my twenty seventh year on television on
Food Network, but not making about me. But um, you know,
some of these things you can't get too comfortable with
it or take it personally. What doesn't work out anymore

(34:32):
and you're just kind of onto the next one. But
when it works, it feels really great. Speaking of moving
on to the next one, your new show, the next
one is Restaurants at the End of the World, and
I want to hear all about it because it sounds
like the best job ever. It sounds like you get
to travel around and go eat. Is that not what
it is? Ye? Yes, a very high level absolutely, but

(34:54):
The best thing about I think about this show for
me is, you know, all the things that lead us
to these opportunities. We can look back on our life
and be like, that's why I made for this show.
It's not just all of a sudden snap our fingers
and we have this like dream job. For me, that
show was born out of this curiosity that I've always
had for traveling. You know, I grew up watching the
Food Network. I grew up watching Tyler on Tyler's Ultimate

(35:16):
and watching these shows, and that's the way I learned
about food and travel by way of other people and
chefs that knew more and have gone to places that
I haven't. And then speed up to my life in
mid adult time. I didn't have a lot of disabolsed
income and I didn't have time working in kitchen, so
travel still off the plate. And then the next layer
of all of a sudden these opportunities start to show themselves,

(35:39):
and that coupled with my personal journey. I was adopted,
I was born and soul raised in Michigan at four
months old, and that idea of that I could have
landed anywhere in this world with any family, eating any
kind of food, having any kind of life, and so
that drives this curiosity of travel. And so for me

(36:01):
going into restaurants at the end of the world already,
I'm kind of I have this sense of exploration that
I want to find myself through all these people as well.
And so we get to eat great food, we get
to do some adventurous stuff because it's national geographic. But
at the core of what it is for me, it's
this lifelong journey that I've forever wanted to have because

(36:24):
I visit these people and spend time with them for
weeks at a time with the idea in my head
that I could have been part of their family. And
this also could have been my life, which is you
know that makes it already the best job that I
think I've ever had in my life. You have won
the lottery, yeah, I mean from a chef perspective, I mean,

(36:48):
isn't that what we just love? Just like, you know,
going and tasting the thing there, you know, because like
when I was a young chef, like grown up in
New York City, you know, there there was you know,
you could you could have, you know, an element of
an Italian experience or an element of a French experience
or element of the Spanish experience. But like being locked
on the island of Manhattan, you only you could taste

(37:09):
like the fac simile, but you ever taste like the
real thing. And then when you get to travel as professional,
is that like just the best thing ever? It's amazing
And what the awesome part of this Wells, I don't
know how much of a cookie are. I saw a
very small clip of you cookie with Tyler and you
were very excited, so that already he's the best worst
cook in the America, right. But what I love about

(37:30):
this show is that we're not always with professional trained chefs.
We're with just people that want to cook food, living
off their land, doing what they do for other people.
And I think whether you're a professional chef or an
amateur chef or the best worst cook ever out there,
at the end of the day, being able to feed
someone food is just this like mainline connector for everybody,

(37:51):
not just chefs, which I think is a really you know,
it's a special skill to have, and Wells, you also
have it. Don't worry, you have it. If you could
pick up a knife and cook a plate of food,
you also have it. And it's one of the greatest
gifts you can give someone. Well, I gotta I gotta
know what place at the end of the world surprised
you the most, Like what was the place that you

(38:12):
were like, Wow, I didn't expect it, because I've done
enough television shows. It's always the place that you or
the thing or the idea or the bit that you
don't think will land that always is like the best.
And I imagine that happened to you in real time.
You know, there's a there's a lot of beauty in
all the places we went, Hands down, for sure. I

(38:32):
gotta say that going basically to the North Pole in
small Bard, tiny little island off the mainland coast of
Norway between North Pole and Norway. We went there and
I think for me that was a place that I
would have never taken myself ever. And we were in
this like base camp explorer kind of thing where you
couldn't leave without a guard because there are too many

(38:53):
polar bears diving in the Arctic, fishing Arctic chart out
of the Arctic who would have sunk and having this
epic adventure And we all know how television works, Like
if I need to hike fifteen miles to get to
this restaurant, Like we're going to start the first half
mile and we're going to end the last half mile.
All the stuff in between is a car that kind
of takes you there for time and all the reasons.

(39:16):
But for this place, it was we couldn't take certain
cars on the land basically was protected and so there
wasn't enough snow on the ground to take a snowmobile,
so we had to actually walk. And in order to
get to work that day, we had to hike through
the tundra for an hour and a half just to

(39:37):
get to the place where we're going to film. And
then we filmed, and we hiked all the way back.
And those are those moments that you're like, wait, wait
a second, is this actually happening? And it did, And
that was probably one of the most surprising things that
I that I'm actually cut out for a little bit
of adventure in my life, like that physical activity. What
did you eat there? Like I assume it's like blubber

(39:59):
or like fish, Like, what do you eat there? Um?
Off camera? I did try seal um not for me
on camera? You know, we're eating reindeer, reindeer tongue. Um.
You know, we're serving things off of reindeer shoulder blades,
UM small barred chicken which is called the ptarmigan, which
is a grouse. The feeding sack. There was this bit

(40:20):
where the chef took the feeding sack from this bird,
all the bits and infused it in a young gin.
It did not taste good, but it sure was an
adventure and it was lovely because we served a cocktail
with um glacier ice that we went you know, to
get ourselves. So um. Yeah. Food for me, nothing is

(40:40):
surprising or weird or exotic. I hate when people refer
to food as exotic because to somebody it's normal and
that's just their every day um. But for me, that
that feeding sack thing definitely through through my brain for
a loop, like it's everything but the moo. Right, it's everything,
but it's everything but the you know, but the beak itself.
And a lot of like cultures, especially when there's not

(41:01):
a lot of resources around, you know, it's surprising how
they really just don't throw anything out. And it challenges
each other chef, because we're already thinking, okay, well, you know,
we're very much in tune with how much waste and
food waste and minimizing it as much as we can.
But then you go to places where it's almost this
it's it's a it's an absolute necessity. It's the difference

(41:22):
between a meal and you know, ten extra calories to
help you get through the next bit of time or not.
And those are the things where you're like, Wow, how
much more can I think about food? And how much
better can I be with with the food that I'm producing? Also, um, so,
it definitely is a professional It was a professional learning
experience as well as a personal So how has this

(41:44):
taken um you know, all of your experiences so far
back to your restaurant in Austin Like so like the
practical application of you know, touring and tasting and experiencing,
how is that evolved into your own personal clicking out?
I think the biggest takeaway the one of the greatest
life lessons I've learned. It is kind of similar to

(42:06):
the personal side, where the more you become yourself, the
more opportunity and kind of your professional life grows. What
I realized is that I used to cook, and I
think we all used to cook because we used to
cook other people's food for so much of our career,
and all of a sudden, then you're thrust out into
the world and you're like, here, now cook your own food,
and we like, for me, I scrambled. I was like,
what is my own food? I don't know. So for

(42:28):
a long time I cooked for praise, I cooked for accolades,
I cooked for shock and awe and all the things.
And what I realized in all these people that I've
met have taught me along the way is that when
you lean into your own story, whatever that might be,
and you cook that food that has a connection to

(42:49):
who you are and your experiences that only you have had.
That's the only differentiating thing that puts all of us
chefs apart. It is the only unique thing is when
you tell your own story. Because everything has been cooked before,
we can every combination is probably done before. But when
you add the story, that is the unique part and

(43:10):
then unique layer that makes it really special. So again,
the more and more I become myself, the more and
more my food becomes what it needs to be, and
the more special I think it becomes. And so that
main ingredient it becomes you correct, because there is only
one of us, right, well, all three of us could
cook a meat loaf theoretically, but we're gonna, like impart

(43:35):
a little bit of our own personality and all of
a sudden, then we have three meat loafs, and then
we have a story to tell, and then there's something
different and it makes it interesting, and it is the
only meat loaf out there that is either Wells or
Tilers or mine. And you know, we'll have a meat
loaf party. Yeah. Question, I would like to not eat
my meat loaf. I'm gonna eat your guys meat love.

(43:55):
I've been wanting to ask this question for I guess
for a while, ever since I saw the movie Be
the Menu. Have you seen that movie? I have? Okay,
so this is my question for you that pertains to
that movie. At the end of that movie, not to
ruin it, but you haven't seen the Menu. Sorry. M
Ralph find cooks of cheeseburger and it's kind of like
the one thing that he kind of cooks at the
end because he kind of knows how this whole thing

(44:19):
is gonna kind of end. I think, put yourself in
that position, what is like the last thing you're making?
M If I can't if I can't get delivery quite frankly,
because other people's food makes me happier than my own.
Really it does if I have to eat it. Okay, okay,

(44:41):
you can get Postmates then too. So twofold, you cook
it and then you also order it from somewhere, And
now I want to know that answer. So if I'm
cooking it, it's going to be either kraftmac and cheese
out of a box or Hamburger helper or rice erroney,
because that's right back to my childhood. And you are
you are you churching it up at all? Or you
throw it in? No, absolutely do you. You don't mess

(45:02):
with perfection. We all know perfection. And then if I
am ordering something without even a second to think about it,
it's chicken fingers, French fries, ranch dressing, and mayo, my
favorite meal that I could eat every single day in
the shitti or the chicken fingers, the better the ones
that come from the freezer section. Huh. This this is

(45:22):
like typical chef conversation too, by the way, because like, um,
you know, because like like ranch dressing is my elixir
of life, by the like, I just think it's one
of the greatest recipes ever invented. And and I eat
it with most stuff, and so, you know, we I'm
sure you get the question a ton, you know, like
what do you make? What could you make? What would
your last meal be? And then I always think, too,
it's got to be like god fried chicken. You know

(45:44):
what I mean, it's gonna be It's like from the South. Yeah,
it's kind of like real deep flavor profile that that's
really feels really good to me. But i'd love to
kind of I love to hear that because it, you know,
makes us human, right, and we love you know. And
the other question I get a ton too, is is
like when you go to someone else's house, Um, do
you really kind of criticize your food or feel particularly

(46:04):
picky or even do that in restaurants? And I just
love everyday food. I just love like stuff that kind
of feels like delicious and brown and yummy. And I
love a good cheeseburger. And so I just love to
hear your your answer to that because I think it's
it's true. But we have to say ranch dressing, yes,
we all agree. I don't know, well that be a
fan of ranch dressing, okay, big fan? Um, what ranch

(46:26):
dressing do you like the best? Though Hidden Valley buttermilk. Okay, Yeah,
it's so. I think Hidden Hidden Valley is really good.
And I make a meme one from scratch which which
is which is great? Um, But I would have to
say Hidden Valley ranch is you got to kiss the ring,
And I think that is the one true ranch dressing. Okay,

(46:48):
but I have to say a close second is that
like unnamed, unbranded, like slightly watery ones that you get
in like a plastic ramikin. Yeah, at like the chain
restaurants that one because the text it's not too thick
and it like glazes your fried chicken, you know, it
like kind of like coats it and it slowly drips off. Yeah.
Some I don't like because it kind of you could

(47:09):
taste the xanthem gum. That's kind of holding all together.
That one. I like, what if I if I have
to have them make an unfortunate dietary decision and airport
because I'm just starting to death and and my you know,
my chicken sandwich comes like a little thing of ranch
dressing and it tastes like xantham gum. Well, first of all,
I eat it and I put it down like a
pro um. But um to me hidden Valley ranch packet

(47:30):
that's got like the perfect amount of onion, powdered garlic,
powdered dried parsley and the buttermilk powder and you kind
of mix that in with fifty fifty mayo and sour cream.
Oh yeah, yeah, that is the jam. I mean, you
could take you know, chicken fingers from the freezer, but
god do they taste like fla garage like do you
know what I mean? With like dipped in like really

(47:52):
good homemade ranch dressing. There's just nothing better. Yeah, I
would a thousand percent of a chicken finger I will
take it. Also, Arby's, can we just say for a second,
Arby's chicken fingures and curly fries probably superior fast food
chain chicken figures out there. Really? Yeah, I highly recommend. Okay,
I'm gonna put it on my list. All these James

(48:13):
Beard Award winning chefs we have on our show, and
you guys all want mac and cheese, branch dressing, Arby's
chicken fingers. I didn't think. I thought we'd be talking
about like truffles and you know, s cargo and stuff. Now, No,
I don't secret I don't like black truffles. I eat

(48:33):
them because every chef like wants to throw them on
the menu, and I'm just like, wait a second, that
pasta was perfect before you added those black truffles, and
now we're adding that and it's like a little bit funky.
I'm gonna pass. I'm gonna that's a hard pass for me.
Christ And thank you so much for being on two
Dudes in the kitchen. We're so very excited for restaurants
at the end of the world. It's on NAT Geo

(48:55):
correct Correct and Disney Plus streaming the day after Oh
very nice. Where can people find you if they want
to follow you on social media and stuff like that.
Instagram it's at Kristen l kish Um. Same on Facebook
and Twitter, but I don't really use those. They're just
kind of there because I have to have them. Are
you on TikTok oh? I am? I started one also,
probably because I'm terrible at it. To be honest, I

(49:16):
have no theme. I'm I don't do day in a life.
I just need someone to help me with it. So
if there's any like twenty something or old millennial out
there that can like make me go viral, I'll hire you. Yeah,
And tell everybody about Arla Gray and Austin too, so
r Loo Gray is my restaurant in Austin, Texas. It's
right downtown inside the Line Hotel. Um. It's dinner only
Wednesday to Sunday, and it's just all my love letter

(49:39):
to comfort food. Just done a lot better, all right,
christ And thank you so much for being on the show.
You rock. Now go enjoy a big bowl of mac
and cheese. Thank you. I have a good one. Guys, Jeff,
thank you so much. Appreciate, thank you. Bye. She's awesome, man,

(49:59):
isn't she. She's just a wonderful ball of energy and
success could not happen to a nicer person, like I
tell you well, And that's why success happens to successful
people is because they are really wonderful. And it's so
interesting to hear her take on like I never thought
that like my kookie sense of self would become so
like utilized on television. But that's the one thing that

(50:20):
I've always said when we start a season of Paradise
or Bachelor or Bachelorette or whatnot is is audiences can
smell inauthenticity from a mile away, And if you are
pretending to be the thing that you think people want
to see. They're not going to like it. But if
you who are just you, and you have a like
a solid sense of self, then you will thrive. And

(50:43):
she obviously is thriving. She's thriving like crazy. I mean
like all the you know her her restaurant accolades, and
then you know, and it happens a lot in the
competition Reality Cooking World is that chefs who never thought
they would be good at television and they're kind of
thrusted into this awkward competition where they've got to make

(51:04):
you know, three choruses in thirty minutes against two other
chefs and best dish wines whatever it is. They kind
of start to find this new personality that never knew existed.
And you're starting to see some real like this new
generation of you know, Julia Child esque celebrities that are
going to just carry the torch for a long time.
And she's one of them. For sure. She's so good,

(51:25):
she's so confident, she's so smart. She's so smart. And
then her and I think how she relates recipes that
you can see on camera to like the person who's
sitting on the couch and make them relatable and delicious.
It's it's rarefied air, but she does a really good
job of it. Totally. Yeah. Well all right, buddy, Well
this was fun. I learned a lot in the front
end of this episode, and then getting to hear a

(51:46):
Christen's story is very very cool. Please follow us over
on Instagram at two Dudes in the Kitchen and tell
your friends rate review five stars, all that stuff, and
have a great week everybody, and we'll see you next week.
I too, each other kitchen later, guys. All right, guys,
thanks for listening. Follow us on Instagram at two Dudes
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(52:10):
see you guys next time. See you next time.