‘Top Chef’ winner Kristen Kish joins HAL Culinary Council

Dining room and Pinnacle Gala pop-up menus

Kish’s playful yet refined cuisine will be featured on the menus in the dining room, showcasing French and Italian traditions with a nod to her world travels and diverse upbringing. Her dishes also will be featured exclusively at Pinnacle Gala, a new, luxurious pop-up dining experience in The Pinnacle Grill on cruises of 10 days or longer.

The Pinnacle Gala will deliver a multi-course, dinner event.

Austin's Arlo Grey

Kish recently partnered with Sydell Group to launch her first restaurant, Arlo Grey, in Austin, Texas. The restaurant melds the chef’s precise technique and experience with a nostalgia for dishes from her upbringing, world travels and the bountiful ingredients of Central Texas.

Kish was born in South Korea and adopted into a family in Michigan. She attended the world-renowned Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Chicago.

After working in high-profile restaurants including Michelin-star chef Guy Martin’s Sensing and Barbara Lynch’s Stir, Kish won Bravo’s ‘Top Chef’ season 10, filmed in Seattle. She went on to become chef de cuisine at Menton, a Relais & Chateaux restaurant in Boston, then left in 2014 to travel the world and write a cookbook.

Kish co-hosted of ‘36 Hours,’ a Travel Channel show that partnered with The New York Times to take the hit newspaper column to television. She also toured to promote her first cookbook in 2017.

The Culinary Council

The Culinary Council is led by HAL master chef Rudi Sodamin, joined by international chefs Jonnie Boer, David Burke, Andy Matsuda, Ethan Stowell and Jacques Torres.

Sodamin oversees all aspects of the dining, in addition to Rudi’s Sel de Mer. Boer brings the flavors of his internationally acclaimed restaurant, De Librije, to select sailings through Taste of De Librije evenings in Pinnacle Grill. Burke enhances the menu at Pinnacle Grill, adding contemporary flavors and new signature recipes.

Matsuda leads the sushi offerings in Lido Market, Tamarind and Nami Sushi. Stowell incorporates the flavors of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest on board ships sailing in that region, and several of his recipes are featured at New York Pizza and Lido Market on all ships. Torres oversees chocolate desserts and the Chocolate Surprise Dessert Parade.