Melissa King Biography
Melissa King is a television personality and Cantonese-American chef most known for her participation on the reality competition series Top Chef. She debuted in the twelfth season of Top Chef: Boston, finishing fourth; she later returned for the seventeenth season, Top Chef: All-Stars L.A., winning. She specializes in contemporary Californian cuisine with Asian influences.
How old is Melissa King? – Age
She is 38 years old as of 11 October 2021. She was born in 1983 in Whittier, California, United States.
Melissa King Family – Education
She is the eldest of two sisters. In the late 1960s, her parents moved from Hong Kong to Los Angeles. Her father was an electrical engineer, while her mother was an aeronautical engineer. She began her academic career at the University of California, Santa Barbara, before transferring to the University of California, Irvine, where she earned a B.A. in cognitive science. She subsequently went on to attend The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, where she earned an A.A. in culinary arts. She is also a Level 1 Sommelier accredited by The Court of Master Sommeliers.
Melissa King Partner
King is openly gay and a supporter of LGBTQ equality, women’s empowerment, environmental sustainability, and youth food education.
Did Melissa ever win Top Chef?
King rose to national prominence after finishing fourth as a finalist on Season 12 of Bravo’s Top Chef. King was invited back for Season 17 of Top Chef, the show’s second all-star season when she was crowned winner and awarded the $250,000 grand prize. She was then selected as Season 17’s “fan favorite,” earning her an additional $10,000, which she donated to many non-profit organizations, including the Black Visions Collective, Asian Americans for Equality, Asian Youth Center, and The Trevor Project. She has won the most individual challenges in a single season of Top Chef than any other competitor in the show’s history. In 2014, King was a finalist on Bravo’s Top Chef (season 12), and he won Top Chef. King was a Top Chef (season 12) finalist in 2014 and the winner of Top Chef All-Stars in 2020. King served as a guest judge on Top Chef (season 18) and Top Chef (season 19).
How did Melissa King lose weight?
She lost 40lbs (18.1 kgs). She achieved this by taking fewer carbs and sugar and also exercising.
Melissa King Net Worth
She has an estimated net worth of $1.5 Million.
Melissa King Career
When she was 17, King got her first kitchen job as a pastry assistant at the Getty Museum. Over the next ten years, she apprenticed under several Michelin-starred and James Beard Award-winning chefs, including Dominique Crenn and Ron Siegel. She has worked at several Michelin-starred restaurants in the Bay Area, including Campton Place, Luce, and The Dining Room (Ritz-Carlton San Francisco). She was a Whole Foods Market culinary ambassador. She was named one of San Francisco’s “Best Female Chefs.”
King is the founder of King Sauce, a small batch line of distinctive sauces, and the owner of a company focusing on culinary relationships and experiences. In 2018, King made her modeling debut in a global Levi Strauss Pride Campaign. In 2021, King starred in the Gap Inc SP21 Individual Anthems campaign, as well as in the company’s Instagram Reel interviews, which were timed to coincide with the campaign.
In 2021, King appeared in Sesame Street: See Us Coming Together Special, which celebrated the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. King featured as a guest judge on Food Network’s The Julia Child Challenge in 2022. She has performed at a number of prestigious culinary and music events, including Coachella, Outsidelands, South Beach Wine & Food Festival, Pebble Beach Food & Wine, Kohler Food & Wine Experience, and KitchenAid SrPGA.