When asked about her favorite comfort food, Kristen Kish—Top Chef champion, Le Cordon Bleu culinary school grad, and head chef at the Arlo Grey restaurant in Austin, Texas—rattles off a surprising combo: “Fried chicken fingers, french fries, ranch dressing, and mayo,” she says. “And it has to be takeout. That would be my last meal, forever and ever.”
Despite her credentials, Kish is clearly no food snob, and neither is her fiancée, Australian-born hospitality executive Bianca Dusic. When they were falling in love, Dusic introduced Kish to a childhood favorite of hers. “I bought a small toastie maker so I could make Kristen canned-spaghetti toasties,” says Dusic, who works with the Standard hotel group. For the uninitiated, these toasted-bread sandwiches can be stuffed with anything from cheese to baked beans…
