Kristen Kish, the winner of last year's
cooking reality contest Top Chef: Seattle, has come out gay.
The 30-year-old Kish over the weekend
released a photo of herself with girlfriend Jacqueline Westbrook on
Instagram. The photo of the smiling women inside a helicopter was
captioned: “Helicopter ride over Charleston. Happy 1 year love.
You've made me incredibly happy.”
The announcement coincided with a New
York Times magazine story on female chefs which revolved
around Barbara Lynch, Kish's mentor.
In the piece, Marnie Hanel quietly outs
Kish while detailing a dinner Lynch organized at her Boston-based
restaurant Menton during Kish's final shift in the eatery's kitchen.
Lynch “invited a surprise guest to
complete the table. … It was Jacqueline Westbrook. She and Kish
have been together nearly a year, but they kept their relationship
under wraps at first. Westbrook, who is the assistant to the Food
& Wine editor in chief, Dana Cowin, recalls telling her boss,
'So, you know my friend Kristen? Well, she's not just my friend.'”