Learn How to Stop Proving Yourself with Top Chef's Kristen Kish

26:09What is the thing? What makes it a Kristen dish? So honestly, it's like kind of like trashy processed food. I grew up in the Midwest where casseroles and box foods. I grew up in the era where I would come home from school and I'd open up a box of mac and cheese and I would doctor it up. You know, you add a little bit less milk, add more butter, gets richer. And then you like, you know, dip potato chips in it. Like that's what I was eating. And so that is my comfort foods. I love that you said that because I don't know that I would have like understood that. And it's true now that I understand it.

26:41So if you come to my restaurant, hopefully you come one day, there is a dish that was created off of my love of Hamburger Helper. Now, there is no Hamburger Helper. There's none of that. We make everything in-house, homemade pastas. The sauce takes like four days because we're rehydrating and dehydrating. There's actually no beef in it whatsoever. But it's the feeling. When you say comfort food, everybody has a reaction on what dishes that means for you. and comfort food. It's just, it's not a particular flavor. It's a feeling. And those were the flavors of my childhood and my feelings of my childhood.

27:19So how does this sensitive, in tune, socially anxious girl go into the chaos of a kitchen? You know, I think television media and kitchen culture was glorified for so long. This like bad boy behavior, rock and roll, drugs, like blah, blah, blah, blah. And yes, there is a lot of that. And there was a lot of that. I'm sure plenty of places are still like that. But for so many people that chose a life in the kitchen, it was a place to feel like you belonged. So when you find the right kitchen, not all of them are like what you see on TV or whatever. A lot of them are safe space for a lot of people.

27:58That's how my kitchen is. It's a safe space for people to feel protected in a way from all of the other things around them that make them feel uncomfortable. And so it was for me a place where I felt confident. In some kitchens, I felt very protected and supported. So I think it's uncomfortable and maybe intimidating for people that have never worked in a kitchen or chosen that career path. For the ones that do, you know, when you find that right kitchen, it's like the most peaceful place. Sounds like it was healing for you in some ways. It was. Honestly, the biggest thing I got out of kitchens, good and bad, was finding my confidence, knowing that I was good at something because for so long, I didn't think I was good at anything.

28:41Well, you're very, very good at hosting Top Chef. Thank you. Which you have done the past three seasons. What's been the biggest shift for you stepping into the host role? You know, I've thought about this question a lot and every year it changes. I was asked last night, how has your mindset changed since being a contestant to hosting and now hosting your third season? And there hasn't been. Because me hosting Top Chef, what I think makes me good at that job is that I have over two decades of experience talking about food, talking to chefs, being the one talked at, giving feedback. it's this language that I've been talking about and talking in for over two decades of my life.

29:26Yeah. And yes, now we're on TV. I'm in full glam. There's more cameras and great lighting and everything around you. But the core and the mindset that I have is the exact same mindset I have on why food excites me and how it has been. I heard that Gail Simmons, when you got the job, was basically like, yeah, of course she was going to be Kristen. Right. I'm glad she knew because I had no idea. When the announcement came out and clearly they needed another post. Yeah. I was like, I wonder who that's going to be. There is no chance in hell that I was ever going to get that phone call. It never went through your mind.

30:04Never. I thought about it for a split second. Wow, that could be fun. but then I let that go because I never thought it was going to be a possibility for me because who we are inside and how we feel is sometimes different than what other people see and I've always said it every great thing in my career that has happened is because someone else saw my greatness before I could see it wow that's how I got competing on Top Chef different jobs I've had I'm like you want me and they're like of course we want you and I'm like why and then they tell me. Yeah. What a gift. It's huge. And so once other people see that and say that, it is then my responsibility to say, you know what?

30:42You're right. I'm going to go prove it to myself now. Have you found a classy way to wear sweatpants on set? Are you still unbuttoning your pants? No, no, no. I don't care if it's classy or not. I buy my sweatpants about three sizes too big. There's a drawstring. And so if it happens all the time, walking around set or walking around in my house, if I don't tie tight enough, they are too big for me where if I put the weight of my phone in my pocket, they're going to slide down. Yeah. I feel like that's the real top chef tea. Nobody's talking about. I will tell you this season. So the past two seasons, Tom, I learned from Tom that when you're behind judge's table, don't seize your legs.

31:21It's true. And so he always changed into shorts and flip-flops. And so he'd wear a suit jacket and then his shorts. You're kidding. That's like COVID outfit. Correct. Exactly. And so I was like, well, Tom's doing that. I want to do that. And so I would change out of my perfectly tailored fitted pants and I would put sweatpants on. This season, because they were doing some shots behind judge's table, we had to put our real pants back on. We had to keep the full outfits on. And sometimes even the whole, like the shoes and everything. It was a sad day when they took away the sweatpants at judges table.

31:54Are you busting out of your pants? I am. They're always unbuttoned if they can be unbuttoned. And I'm also trying to figure out how I need to sit because when you eat 15 plates of food, your pants feel a little bit tighter. And so you've got to figure out a way where you can feel a little bit more comfortable for sitting for like four hours. I remember people back in the day would always ask the top chef host and judges, like if they had a workout routine during filming because you're eating that much food. I thought you're just having a little bite and then... In some cases. So I've always said on TV, I know it looks like we're eating so much food, which yes, it's a lot of food.

32:36But I would argue that every bite that I take, if you took every single bite I consumed and put it on one plate, the volume of that food is no bigger than a regular meal. That's kind of what I would guess. Like the only thing that makes it a little bit more challenging is like so many different flavor profiles that your brain is trying to comprehend. But it's not that much food, if you ask me. I still need to eat again after, so. You do? We do. We go to dinner. Gail Simmons is famous for saying we are human beings. And the beauty of that is that we can eat a meal, but what, four hours later, you need another one.

33:13That's so nice. Yeah. Really cool. You've been nominated for an Emmy every season that you've hosted. I have, yeah. As someone who used to never want attention to be on her, what does it mean to you to be nominated as the face of something? I think that I am accepting it more and I'm a little bit more comfortable with it because this is a cooking competition show that I once competed on, that I once won because of my skill. And so I feel less of like maybe a floating head and more of like, I came up through this show. I am standing in this position because I competed on it. Yeah, your DNA is there.

33:56It feels genuine and authentic. So sometimes I feel like perhaps I feel a little bit lacking purpose. And that sometimes makes me feel uncomfortable if I'm in a room and I don't feel like I have a strong purpose. Here, I feel very grounded in that purpose. And so therefore, it's more comfortable. Yeah. And you know the crew and it's like... It's a show that has changed so many lives that has then gone on and translated so many of your lives because we all need to eat. And you go to these restaurants and you seek out these chefs that you've just watched on television and you're fueling and feeding the communities because you're going to the restaurants and the small businesses.

34:34It's just this whole ecosystem that goes from TV, reality, television, entertainment into all of our lives in some form. I actually want a cultural critic to do a study on Top Chef and the increase of popular mass media female chefs. Yes. Because I remember I'm from Chicago and I remember Stephanie opened multiple restaurants in Chicago in a place that is incredibly male dominated. Like we'd never really had that before. I just, I do think it's changed so many people's lives. And it's changed the landscape of this industry in so many ways. I love you talk about the introduction to amazing, strong, powerful women in the kitchen that have been doing this thing for so long, but now like this moment of recognition, same thing with different foods from different cultures that aren't mainstream for a long time.

35:28Weren't like in the top, like three cuisines that were being celebrated, but now they are. And they're surpassing the French and the Italian. Like now we're talking, we're going, we're seeking out restaurants that are like, I mean, I had never been to a fine dining Nigerian restaurant before. Now those exist. How cool is that? You're right.

36:17We'll be right back. payment of AT &T, Verizon, and T-Mobile customers compared to 12 months on the Boost Mobile Unlimited Wireless plan as of January 2026. For full offer details, visit boostmobile.com. When it comes to advancing your education, you have more options than you think. At Rasmussen University, we find ways to remove barriers, not build them, like a new laptop if you're eligible, and enroll in select online or on-campus programs. That means flexible and engaging online courses and resources, tuition savings options if you qualify, exceptional student support, and much more. online nationally or check out their 20 campuses across six states.

36:49Start when you're ready and get the support you need. Visit rasmussen.edu.

36:57Hello, hello. This is Malcolm Glabal from Smart Talks with IBM. Today we're diving into a fascinating conversation with Stefano Pallard, head of fan development for Scuderia Ferrari HP. Your pronunciation is strongly American. It's more Scuderia Ferrari. I'm still working on rolling my R's. But what I was able to learn from Stefano was the importance of engaging the Tifosi, the Ferrari superfans in the digital age. Ferrari fans and superfans want to be part of something, want to belong to something. So they want to be part of a community, and ultimately they want to be part of a winning team. You've got Ferrari, which has a long history, design history.

37:42And now you're interacting in a kind of digital space. I'm curious how you balance those two traditions. When it comes to fan engagement, it's really digital technology and digital channels are being able to create a deeper connection with our fans. To learn more about how Ferrari and IBM are using technology to build deeper connections with fans, visit ibm.com slash Ferrari.

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39:45So you've hosted across Fast Foodies, Iron Chef, Restaurants at the End of the World, and now, of course, Top Chef. What has each version of that experience given you that you didn't expect? You know, when you look back on life, you're like, all of the right things happened at the right time. And then you can start to puzzle piece your life together. And you're like, oh, it all makes sense now. I know for a fact that fast foodies lent me to hosting Iron Chef. I remember there was a very top executive that I had known for my top chef days, who was working at Netflix at the time. She saw me on fast foodies and she's like, oh, Kristen has found her voice.

40:26and that's how I my name entered somewhere in the Iron Chef consideration and Iron Chef I know for a fact got me ready for like the spontaneity and the unscripted likeness of what Top Chef is yes every step taught me that I am actually good at these things and it's got confidence booster like every single time I did it yeah I mean even if the shows never got picked up It just made room and experience for the next thing and the next thing. I remember I was so sad when one show didn't get picked up and I was devastated. And I was like, oh my God. But then three months later, another show, another network came in and had the other show gotten picked up, I wouldn't have been able to do this other one that actually excited me more.

41:15You're only able to see it in hindsight. You are. Yeah. Which is like teaches you a lot of patience and life. Yeah. Another gift of age. Also, yes. I love getting older because I'm learning so much more about myself. And also you're embracing all of the most amazing things that you never knew you could dream. Those all start to come into focus as each year passes. I never thought getting older would happen to me the way I don't feel like menopause is going to happen to me. I just genuinely like I'm not even. Yeah, we'll talk about it later. Yeah. Call me when you're having your first night sweat.

41:50I'll do the same. Okay, good. But I do actually like aging. I really, truly. Yeah. I truly do. Life gets better and better because I get more comfortable with myself. Yeah. And there's something so freeing about understanding who you are and what you want and what matters. And most importantly, what doesn't actually matter. Okay. So I want to talk about your personal story because we talked a lot about food, but after reading your memoir, Accidentally on Purpose, I felt as if I understood where your love of food came from. And I want everybody to feel that. It's so much about finding your way.

42:27And you said something I loved. I wrote it down. It says, today, my interest in exploring the Korean parts of me is rooted in my sense of curiosity. When I hosted travel shows, my tendency to question everything was the driving force. I'm interested in seeing how other people live and knowing what another life could be like. Do you think that that deep curiosity came from you wanting to understand the world or was it really you wanting to understand yourself? It was more about myself. And it was, if we take a couple of steps behind that, it was being adopted and growing up in a home that I was not, I didn't look like everybody else.

43:10and so also when you are adopted you can't help but think about all the other things that could have happened that could have landed you with another family in any other part of the world and how different your life could have been and that has always been that driving force of the curiosity I could have been I could have been anywhere else like of course we all have that right we're born into the family and like what if I was born into another but there's I don't know if there's words to explain it. And I think being an adoptee, there is this sense of belonging that never really settles in, in the way that I feel like if you are biologically born into a family.

43:52So yeah, you always feel like, what if, what if that happened? I don't know. I've had friends who are adopted who would say to me, like they would look around and be like, oh, maybe that's my mom. Oh, yeah. Or you felt that. When I went to Korea for the first time, I was like kind of taken aback. I was like, do I look like you're? Because when you're transracially adopted and you don't look like the people, I don't want to say long for, long for is not the right word, but I've always been the most curious about what two people made me. Like, and I would love to see a picture of these two people that made me because you could look at your family members, cousins, mom, dad, whatever, and be like, oh my God, we have the same eyes.

44:38Yes. You can draw that connection, but I don't have that. But I will say, more importantly, the thing that I can say that I got from my mom and dad, which I think is even more important than how you look, is your values and your character. I don't think that was instilled in me within birth. That had to be taught. to me by example. And that is more important than anything. I almost feel emotional hearing you talk about it right now. I said to my dad the other day, he was like, your eyebrows look good. And I said, well, they're your eyebrows. And even at 35, I feel such a connection because of that.

45:22And I truly feel like I'm an empathetic person, I cannot even imagine what it would feel like growing up and not having that. The thing that you feel, for me at least, the things that I felt like I missed out on, I mean, you spend about a half a millisecond thinking about it because you realize all the things that you actually have and the things that you've gained. My life is infinitely bigger and better in all the ways because of my mom and my dad and my brother, like without question. There is no way I would have become this person without them. And I know that for a fact. Do you feel now sitting here, you can say you have found an anchor point or does that sense of belonging still sort of sting or live inside of you?

46:16Vibrate maybe is a better word. There's a difference now because there's a personal and professional belonging that I'm very much grounded in. There's a cultural belonging that is still a little bit undetermined. That needs more exploration. That part needs more permission for me to give myself to say, well, already, yeah, I am Korean enough or I know enough. So the cultural belonging is different. Yeah. I go to Korea and I still feel I look around and I don't feel like I belong. And you have to reckon with the idea that you feel like you should and then you don't. That's like this like inner turmoil that's happening over here.

47:00But I've gotten more comfortable with that as I've gotten older. Do you remember the first time you went to Korea? I do. It was for five days for a work trip. And I questioned on whether I wanted to go or not in that way. But I was like, you know what, this is perfect. Like someone else paying for it. I don't have to put so much pressure on myself to find it and like to find myself. And so I remember some adoptive friends that I have said, you know, when you get on the airplane and you're coming in to land in Seoul, Korea, you're going to look out and you're going to see the motherland and you are going to feel this thing.

47:34Your eyes are going to well. You're going to have this whole moment. And I still remember I was sitting on the airplane and I was looking out the window. It's like, okay, that feeling is not coming. Like, what is wrong with me? And then, you know, when you start to force yourself to feel something, you're like, come on. Like, you like hype yourself up and it never came. And I felt so defeated because I was like, everyone told me that this is what's going to happen. And then it makes you feel like, well, what's wrong with me? Yes. But that feeling came later on. I was walking through a market and I stopped in this little stamp store.

48:08And they make like hand stamps or whatever. And the guy making the stamps, he was like, well, what do you want? I said my Korean name. And he was like, well, what is it? And then, you know, he started asking me other questions. And, you know, I told him I was adopted. It's my first time, blah, blah, blah. And he said to me, oh, my God, now I'm going to cry. This is like the eighth time I've told this story and I cry every single time. And he goes, you belong here. And that was my moment of coming into this hole that I never expected. Why does it make you emotional? Because I think hearing it for the first time from a complete stranger, after feeling like you failed at feeling the thing you were supposed to feel coming there, and it just like completely caught you off guard.

48:58Like I was like, holy shit, because I don't feel like I belong here whatsoever. Because I spent four months of my life there. That's it. And then I left. And so to find, I mean, hopefully everybody can have that moment of like, oh my God, I finally belong. And it was like this permission to be like, you didn't have to grow up here. You don't have to speak the same language. You don't have to know anything about this damn country if you don't want to, but you still belong here. And I think that was like, because there was so much pressure I put on myself. What an exhale. I exhaled hearing you say it.

49:34I tell that story all the time and I cry every time. Yeah. I get it. Yeah. There's something about your story or the mini stories within your larger story, I should say, that hit on the theme of that, which is this beautiful stranger who you never saw again came into your life. and saw something in you. And I get the title accidentally on purpose. It seems like you fell in love accidentally on purpose too. I did. Complete accident. Yeah. Which can we talk about how that could happen to me? It's going to happen for you. That's the most beautiful way to fall in love is when it just happens. I'm joking.

50:18I want to hear your story, but it's really moving. And I actually want to share your dedication first, because you say for the two people whose story I do not know yet, but who set my own in motion. I'm curious if being adopted shaped that way of thinking for you. A hundred percent. How can it not? It is something that sometimes in parts of my life I try to heal or like create in like this nice little package of like, I totally get it. And this is what it is. But every time I've gone through stages of life, it's opened up a part of me that I think is tied to that. And sometimes it's a feeling that I carry on with me for the rest of my life.

51:02And sometimes it's just like a fleeting thought. But it's, you know, I think that is my, that is my history. That is my connection to my culture. And so I hold on to it really, really tightly. And I protect it. I think it's important in the same way that, you know, a lot of my friends have gone on and, you know, really tapped into their culture and how they want to cook. Yeah. For me, it's like that's the place I go back to to find the inspiration on the things that I want to do and how I live my life and the food I want to cook.

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52:10For full offer details, visit BoostMobile.com. When it comes to advancing your education, you have more options than you think. At Rasmussen University, we find ways to remove barriers, not build them. Like a new laptop if you're eligible and enroll in select online or on-campus programs. That means flexible and engaging online courses and resources, tuition savings options if you qualify, exceptional student support, and much more. Online nationally or check out their 20 campuses across six states. Start when you're ready and get the support you need. Visit rasmussen.edu.

52:44Hello, hello. This is Malcolm Glabal from Smart Talks with IBM. Today we're diving into a fascinating conversation with Stefano Pallard, head of fan development for Scuderia Ferrari HP. Your pronunciation is strongly American. It's more Scuderia Ferrari. I'm still working on rolling my R's. But what I was able to learn from Stefano was the importance of engaging the Tifosi, the Ferrari superfans in the digital age. Ferrari fans and super fans want to be part of something, want to belong to something. So they want to be part of a community and ultimately they want to be part of a winning team. You've got Ferrari, which has a long history, design history.

53:28And now you're interacting in a kind of digital space. I'm curious how you balance those two traditions. When it comes to fan engagement, it's really digital technology and digital channels. are being able to create a deeper connection with our fans. To learn more about how Ferrari and IBM are using technology to build deeper connections with fans, visit ibm.com slash Ferrari.

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55:32How do you process the mystery of where your story began while owning where it's gone? I look at it through a lens of excitement and a mystery that never has to be solved. And I think when you take that pressure off of, you don't have to have the answer. You don't have to complete the circle. It's this thing. And it can remain a mystery. And every time I decide to visit it, it could be a different question. It could be a different mystery. It could tell a different story. Yeah. And I think that is, I don't know, it's like this open-ended book over here that just gets to live on and on and on. I really admire that you're not obsessed with cracking the case.

56:11No, I had to let that go a long time ago because it's never going to get cracked. There's a lot of things with transracial adoption that is very complicated. I mean, there are stories, you know, mid 70s to mid 80s where, you know, American adoption agencies were basically stealing babies. And it was like they were selling these children internationally. and there were accusations on a lot of these agencies. And so could I have been part of that? Maybe, I don't know. And I don't need to know. And that's also okay. And I will never know. So the things that I know for a fact may not even be a fact, which to some people I think might kind of drive them a little crazy.

56:58For me, it's just, it is what it is. There's nothing I can do about it. So what I know is that the story that has been told to me on paper, written in reports, was a woman came in, a clinic, room number two, she was wearing a navy sweatsuit, she had perm tear, she came in, she was 5 '4", gave birth to me, never came back, they waited four days, they gave me over to the authorities, and then I got shuffled around orphanages until I was adopted. That's the story I tell, that's the story that I mostly believe, But there is a possibility that that's not true. So my life's journey is not to solve that story.

57:41My life's journey is actually to just create the life that I'm living and that I want. I really appreciate that second part. The existential question of what is the meaning or purpose of life gets thrown around, especially on podcasts, I think a lot. And the best answer I've ever heard was from Oprah and RuPaul in an interview. And RuPaul said, well, the first thing is for me to enjoy this life. Yes, exactly. We don't have to figure everything out. We don't have to have everything in order. You got one living life right now that's happening. I mean, it would be a horrible thing to watch that pass by, trying to solve problems that really don't need to be solved.

58:20Yeah. Okay, tell me the love story. So it's actually not romantic, I guess. So a lot of my relationships before meeting my wife, Bianca, were always founded and rooted in passion and lust. That I was getting confused with love. And at that stage in my life, that was totally fine. Had a great time. Mildly toxic, but really exciting. And I learned a lot. So at that stage in my life, I thought that was love. And that's okay. It was. I can confidently say that I have loved every one of my exes. With Bianca, it was the unexpected. It's the thing that I didn't know. I moved to Austin to open a restaurant.

59:01I had never been there. We have a whole corporate team from New York that's coming in. So we're all meeting in this place to open up this project. And over time, Bianca and I became friends. It was six or seven months. We were friends and entered a relationship like that before. Because you go out on a date And the goal is to see where this goes and to date and have a relationship. With Bianca, I wasn't looking for a relationship, but this friendship started to build. And so that foundation of getting to know somebody before putting the pressures on the future was a very new feeling for me. And so just it happened.

59:45I can't, it's hard to give all the different ways that it happened because I'm not exactly sure what was going on. But eventually we got to a place where it was like, I think I'm feeling something. I don't know if she is and I don't want to like overstep. It's also a part of my career where like, I was like, I don't really want to mess up this working professional relationship that we have and a personal friendship that has been built. Yeah. And so I was treading very lightly. And I don't know, it just, it all happened because we like high fived. And that high five lingered just a little too long.

1:00:27And that was like a mutual, I don't know, it was all in a high five. You both knew. Yes, it was instant. That's so cool. Yeah. After what, six or seven months of knowing each other. And then you knew it was worth risking the friendship. It was worth finding out where it went. And I think because at that point, I mean, Again, we had developed a foundation of friendship for six or seven months now. Yeah. It was a really confident box to stand on to want to go into the next stage. Tell me, if you're willing, how you've changed now being in love with Bianca. I cry a lot more. She required of me to become more emotionally available.

1:01:07I thought I was. I was not. That's interesting. Yeah. And hard. I thought that I always needed to be this strong pillar of strength and having it all together. And when doing that, I thought that meant I wasn't allowed to feel all the things that made me sad or that made me cry or things that softened me. So she required me to be that for myself first and foremost, which then helps out her. she is the most there aren't enough words that I know that can properly describe the human that she is I don't and it's you know I talk about her all the time and I'm running out of words because they're not they're they they don't carry enough weight it is a feeling every single person that has ever crossed paths with her have always said to me how the fuck did you get this one I'm like I don't know.

1:02:09She is compassionate. She is strong. She has this magical empathy about her and how she moves through the world. She has the heart of gold. It's a feeling. I don't know what it is and so it's been like to exhale in this relationship i have never felt more myself and have been given more permission to be all the versions of myself yeah all of them without judgment it is truly the definition of unconditional love which prior to bianca i only knew that in the form of my family's unconditional love. We talk about getting older and feeling more free. It is exactly the same feeling. You can breathe.

1:03:09You can disagree. You can fight. You can have arguments. You can have challenges. But everything is grounded in. We are doing, we are going, this is ours. It's not going anywhere. And so you're so willing to go through all that stuff because you know it's going to be okay. I saw you well up a little bit when you were talking about her. I typically cry when I talk about her. What are you feeling? There's a lot of layered feelings because for a long time, I didn't think I was going to be able to get married. Why? Because it wasn't legal. I mean, it wasn't legal for same-sex couples to get married until 2015.

1:03:49That's insane. Yeah. And so I never thought it was something I could dream. I struggled a lot with my sexuality when I was a kid Wondering if I was ever ever going to live a life that felt true to me And so when you find that person that allows you to do all those things In a time where it is now possible But there's a thing that in the book it says one day I will wake up knowing that I have lived my genuine out authentic life longer than I had not been living. Yeah. I'm not there yet. I still haven't crossed over that threshold of living in that majority yet. And so I never take it for granted.

1:04:38So it's gratitude. How I'm allowed to live. Yeah. It's more than gratitude. It's a possibility that I thought was impossible for a long time. So glad you had that. Yeah. God, me too because i don't know if anyone you can read it in the book but i don't know if anyone understood unless you have felt it before the hopelessness and the like you kind of gave up on thinking that you were ever going to be able to live the life you could live i still remember that feeling deeply i don't know that that ever goes away Like you can access that so quickly. But I think when you channel it and you push it into gratitude and love and opportunity and possibility, it just fuels it even more.

1:05:30Were there any books or stories or movies that gave you hope when you were growing up that made you think like made you feel seen at all? I don't know. I don't think so. My mom and dad tried. They would read me like the Korean Cinderella. You know, I would see queer people on TV. but it was never, it was different. It was different back then. So no, I think that's why I almost felt, I almost felt hopeless. Your life is such a testimony then. I mean, I hope so. Okay. I'm going to do some rapid fire with you, Kristen. The last time you were a real life trader. I was a trader to myself the last time I said yes to what I think was the wrong job for me.

1:06:10The most underrated fried food. I know you said rapid fire, but I take these very seriously. I know. I appreciate this. Would you consider a fried pickle underrated? Yeah. Okay. Fried pickle. Delicious. Never had one. Dipped it in red. Excuse me. No, I'm serious. The most overrated fried food. Only because they're everywhere on menus. Fried olives. I don't need a fried olive. I don't even know what that would be like. Just take an olive, dip it in, do egg wash, bread, and fry it. I'm okay on that. I don't need that. Okay. The silliest way that you've injured yourself in the kitchen. Oh God, you really want to know?

1:06:44Okay. I was in my twenties. It was a very interesting time of my life in Chicago. I was having a lot of fun doing extracurriculars and I went to work not fully in my present body. I cut my finger. That was so dumb. It was so dumb. Oh my God. But also recently, like three Christmases ago, this is it. Scratch that first answer. Three Christmases ago, like I have this beautiful Japanese knife and I was washing it and I took the sponge. I'm scared to hear this story. I washed it and I had the sponge in one hand and a knife in the other. I got distracted. I went to wring out the sponge, but I closed the knife hand and my wife took me to the emergency room.

1:07:31And it was kind of funny that she was having a hard time. I was like laying in bed on the thing with my hand up and she had to lay down in the hallway because she couldn't look at my hand anymore. Yeah. And they kept going to her being like, are you okay? It's like the moment, you know, when like the husband passes out because the wife is giving birth to a human child. It was a little like that moment. Okay. The most underutilized condiment. Underutilized? Okay. I say this because it's very divisive condiment. Mayonnaise. It belongs in everything and anything. You can cook with it. It can go in sweet.

1:08:08savory baked goods. It can be a sauce. It can be a thing to help brown and crisp things. I love it with French fries and ketchup. French fries and ketchup. Anything. It is beautiful. It translates to every part of the kitchen for me. Totally agree. Okay. Your best dinner party hack, and I'm asking for a friend with this one. Best dinner party hack. Like what's added value to a dinner? Why wouldn't you? If you had to eat one thing for the rest of your life. Chicken fingers. The chef you'd want to make your last meal. Ooh, good. May Lynn. She is a former top chef winner. She is one of the most brilliant cooks that I know.

1:08:45Wow. That's a huge answer. Okay. Something every woman should try once. Shaving their head. I did it. I did it and I grew it back. It wasn't my favorite, but it wasn't the worst either. You have a good shaped head, Kristen. No, I don't. That's why I grew it back. No, that's why I grew it back. The profile is a little flat. So I think it was a very liberating moment for me. Okay. A book you read that changed your life. Something you think everybody should read. I don't read books. Do you listen to them? Nope. So you wrote one. My book changed my life. There you go. Okay. Grab the question, everything card game.

1:09:19Okay. Shuffle through. It's like tarot. I really believe you get whichever one calls to you. Okay. Okay. And I just pick one. Yeah. Whichever one. I see there's a red one floating around. That's the instruction card. Do plants thrive or die in your care? This is a perfect question. Well, they die, but my wife makes them thrive. So I win. And that's why you're a perfect pair. Exactly. Kristen, you are such a joy to be with. Thank you. Thank you very much. As are you. Thank you for making me cry. Thank you.

1:09:54okay you know what time it is today's a good day to have a good day i'll see you next week

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