ATC Interview with Kristen Kish - Continued

ATC:  This is Laura Kluvo from All Top Chef and I'm on the phone with Top Chef Seattle Champion, Kristen Kish.  Hi Kristen.

KK:  Hi Laura.

ATC:  Congratulations on your win!

KK:  Thank you.

ATC:  Last night's episode went by very quickly.  Did you watch?

KK:  Yes.  I felt like there were a lot of details that were not shown on the program, like how we chose our sous chefs and how we developed our recipes...all of the work that comes before the cooking - but it is only an hour show...

ATC:  Yes, that is one of my questions, were ALL of the season 11 chefs brought back for you to choose from?

KK:  No, I think there were maybe eight or ten...  after the last challenge at Craft, we chose our sous chefs.

ATC:  Playground style?

KK:  We flipped a coin and I chose Lizzie and Sheldon and later we found out we could choose one more, and that's when I picked Josh.

ATC:  Were you surprised to learn that you had to cook for 150 people?

KK:  Not completely.  We had to send in a food order ahead of time, so we had an idea...

ATC:  During the time that you spent waiting for your return to the finale, did you do anything to prepare?  Were you working on specific recipes?

KK:  I thought about a couple of sauces that I knew would take a lot of time to develop flavors. The shellfish nage takes a while.  I practiced several times to see if I could make it more quickly.  Other than that, my preparation was just working.  I really didn't have time for much more than that.

ATC:  I was very surprised when you were declared the winner after four rounds, were you surprised as well?

KK:  A little, but it is a head-to-head competition, and there is a winner declared after each round.  Each judge had to go on record and state his or her favorite.

ATC:  So there is no one behind the scenes asking the judges to stretch things out just for the sake of drama...that's nice to know.

ATC:  Have you received your prize money yet?

KK:  No, not yet.  It's probably a good thing because if I had it now I would probably be spending frivolously.

ATC:  What are you working on now?

KK:  I'm still at Stir, with Barbara.  I have a lot to learn from her and I intend to stay with her.  She has a few more ideas for me.  I am really looking forward to seeing what comes my way.

ATC:  How tall are you?

KK:  5'9"

ATC:  Kristen, we are almost out of time, is there anything else you would like to say to your fans?

KK:  Yes, thank you to all of my fans, it has been wonderful to feel all of the support.  The Boston Restaurant community is totally behind me and it has been great.