78 NOVEMBER 2018
“Steph and I met when
we were baby cooks
in Boston, the only
two girls on the line.
The first time we
bonded, I dropped a
piece of fish from 8
inches in the air into
a hot pan of oil. It left
a heart-shaped scar,
and we’ve been best
friends ever since.”“Kim lives a few doors
down from where I
used to work in
Boston. She’s a loud
Italian woman and
would always be
yelling at us down the
street. Over time she
became my auntie—
she would take care
of me, make sure I
was eating. Some
nights my only job
was to go over to
Kim’s house and eat
all her leftovers.”
—KRISTEN KISHMUSHROOM TOASTS WITH
DÉLICE DE BOURGOGNE
A Top Chef: Seattle challenge
taught Kristen to love mushrooms.
Here, she pan-roasts them for a
holiday appetizer.
RECIPE P. 81Kristen with (from lef t)
friend Kim Baccari;
brother, Jon; and friend
Stephanie Cmar.