Kristen Kish wins 'Top Chef: Seattle'

[February 28, 2013]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Kristen Kish doesn't need any more chances. She's the winner of "Top Chef: Seattle."

The 28-year-old chef de cuisine at Boston restaurant Stir was crowned champion of the Bravo cooking competition Wednesday after facing off against Brooke Williamson, the 34-year-old co-executive chef of Los Angeles restaurants Hudson House and The Tripel.

"I remember hearing my name and turning my back to the judges for what felt like five minutes but what I'm sure was just five seconds to compose myself and take it all in," Kish said after winning.

She had been eliminated from the competition but won her spot on the 10th season finale after besting five previously eliminated contestants on the companion Web series "Last Chance Kitchen."

In the finale, Kish and Williamson prepared a five-course meal on the fly as the show's judges and a crowd of diners watched.

The winning menu consisted of chicken liver mousse with frisee, mustard, prune, hazelnuts and pumpernickel; citrus and lavender cured scallop with bitter orange, Meyer lemon and apple; bone marrow with celery root puree, mushrooms, bitter greens and radishes; and red snapper with leeks, Little Gem lettuce, tarragon, uni and shellfish nage.

"At the end of the day, my cooking is not super complicated," Kish said. "My goal for this menu was just to do simple, good, elegant food with precision and excellence, taking simple things like chicken liver moose, bone marrow or a piece of fish and executing them well."

Does the win mean Kish, who works for chef Barbara Lynch, will follow in the footsteps of past "Top Chef" champions and open her own restaurant?

"Eventually, sure, I don't know," Kish said. "I want to let this TV thing settle down in the coming months and see how long I can last without it. I'm lucky and very thankful that I'm working for an amazing woman who inspires me every day. I want to create my career and sustain my career based off of my talents and abilities, as opposed to being on television."

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Online:

http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/

[Associated Press; By DERRIK J. LANG]

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