3 Days Celebrating the Best of Art Coast^® Food & Wine

Kristen Kish is the chef/partner of Arlo Grey in Austin, TX, a two-time Emmy-nominated host of Bravo’s award-winning series Top Chef, and a New York Times best-selling author for her memoir, Accidentally on Purpose.

A Korean adoptee raised in Michigan, Kristen discovered her passion for cooking at a young age. After working her way through various kitchens in Boston, she competed on season 10 of Top Chef, ultimately winning the coveted title. Following her win, she published her first cookbook and starred in several other hit shows including Fast Foodies on TruTV, Iron Chef on Netflix, and Restaurants at the End of the World on National Geographic/Disney+.

In 2023, Kristen became the host of Top Chef for its 21st season. Both she and the show received nominations for Primetime Emmy Awards in Outstanding Host and Best Reality Competition Series, respectively.

Most recently, she joined the cast of Season 4 of The Traitors and returned to Top Chef for its latest season in the Carolinas.

Kristen has earned recognition across leading industry lists, including TIME100’s Next, Adweek’s Creative 100, Marie Claire’s Power, Variety’s 30 Most Powerful Women on Reality TV, and Vulture’s Reality Masterminds.

James Rigato is the chef/owner of Mabel Gray in Hazel Park, Michigan. A Michigan native and Schoolcraft College graduate, his philosophy on cooking stems from a lifelong love of food and an appreciation for the diverse agricultural area in which he was raised.

Chef Rigato’s contemporary American cuisine with a Michigan focus has garnered regional and national attention, including The Detroit Free Press 2012 Restaurant of the Year award, a 2012 Food & Wine The People’s Best New Chef: Great Lakes nomination, the 2015 Food & Wine The People’s Best New Chef: Great Lakes Award, and appearances on Cooking Channel, Food Network, Uncharted with Gordon Ramsay on NatGeo. He was also a cheftestant on Top Chef Season 12.

He was nominated for Best Chef: Great Lakes by the James Beard Foundation in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022. In 2025, Mabel Gray was awarded USA Today Restaurant of the Year and Hour Detroit Restaurant of the Year.

He recently began documenting his international travels on mabelgraytravelguide.com, and when he’s not cooking or traveling, you can find him working in his yard or up north in the Keweenaw with his partner Samantha and their beloved dogs, Lady Mae and Chandler.

John is a Detroit native and a twenty-plus-year veteran of the hospitality industry, with a career that includes opening more than a dozen restaurants. He holds a Bachelor of Culinary Arts degree from the acclaimed Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he graduated with honors.

John began his professional journey with the esteemed Charlie Trotter Corporation, working under the tutelage of two-Michelin-starred Chef Charlie Trotter. During his tenure, he was named Head Chef of Trotter’s To Go, the company’s catering division. He later joined Chef Art Smith’s flagship Chicago restaurant, Table Fifty-Two, as Executive Sous Chef, where he met his friend and business partner, Chef Joe Giacomino.

After nearly four years, John signed on with Chef Graham Elliot, spending time at Elliot’s two Michelin-starred restaurants before being named Executive Sous Chef of Graham Elliot Bistro. Prior to forming Four Man Ladder Hospitality, John served as Director of Culinary Operations for Chicago-based Folkart Management, overseeing concepts including A10 Hyde Park, Billy Sunday, and Yusho.

John has been recognized by FSR, Zagat, Crain’s Detroit, StarChefs, Time Out Chicago, and other industry publications. In 2012, he appeared as a contestant on Bravo’s Around the World in 80 Plates, an international culinary competition series.

He currently serves as co-owner of Four Man Ladder Hospitality, which operates Grey Ghost (2016), Second Best (2018), Basan (2022), and Little Ghost (2025).

Chef John Manion is a culinary leader whose restaurants reflect a genuine passion for live-fire cooking and South American flavors. His original voice helped to establish him as one of the city’s most popular chefs. Multiple nominations for "Chef of the Year" culminated most recently in a win at Chicago’s Jean Banchet Awards and the cover of Chicago Magazine's “Best Steakhouses” issue.

Long before Chicago’s West Loop became a sure thing, Chef Manion opened La Sirena Clandestina in 2012. The neighborhood darling maintained a cult following for nearly a decade. A few years later, he opened El Che Steakhouse & Bar in 2016. Inspired by Argentine live-fire cooking traditions, the restaurant continues to define the modern Chicago steakhouse.

In 2024, Chef Manion opened the bold, wood-fired Latin-inspired restaurant Brasero in Chicago’s West Town. The innovative concept reflects the chef’s boyhood memories of living in São Paulo and extensive travels throughout South America. Brasero caught fire with fans very fast, capturing hearts and stomachs and recognition as one of the country’s “Best New Restaurants of the Year” by Robb Report.

James Beard Award nominee for Best Chef: Great Lakes, Melissa “Missy” Corey has been recognized as one of Chicago’s top female chefs by Thrillist (2015) and featured in the Chicago Reader's annual People Issue (2014). Missy trained under James Beard Award-winning chefs Sam Hayward of Fore Street, Rob Evans of Hugo’s and Duckfat, and Paul Kahan of Publican Quality Meats, experiences that helped shape her ingredient-driven approach to cooking. After winning Food Network’s Chopped, she returned to Chicago to lead the kitchen at Publican Quality Meats, where she further developed her passion for seasonal cuisine and whole-animal butchery. Today, her cooking at Pennyroyal Café & Provisions reflects a deep appreciation for classic technique, regional agriculture, and the abundance of Southwest Michigan’s seasonal ingredients.

With deep family roots in East Tennessee, Chef/Owner Millar learned to cook from his mother, continuing a tradition passed down through generations. After beginning his culinary career in restaurant kitchens, a move to Fennville with his wife, Amy, connected them to West Michigan’s farming community. This led to the opening of Journeyman and Rye, followed by acclaimed years at Reserve. A two-time James Beard Foundation Best Chef: Great Lakes semifinalist (2012 and 2013), he honors his Appalachian roots and cooking traditions with an elevated yet approachable style inspired by generations of Southern cooks.