Ways you can support Chef Melissa:
Chef Melissa King is an award-winning chef, author, curator, and television personality.
She is the Winner and Fan Favorite of Top Chef All-Stars: Los Angeles (Season 17) and holds the record for the most challenge wins in the show’s history. She is the host of National Geographics Tasting Wild and appears as a judge on culinary programs including Top Chef, America’s Test Kitchen, and Pamela Anderson’s Cooking with Love.
Raised in Los Angeles’s San Gabriel Valley and San Francisco, she’s redefined modern Asian cuisine inspired by her Shanghainese-Cantonese heritage and the produce-driven spirit of the West Coast.
Her cookbook Cook Like a King: Recipes from my California Chinese Kitchen brings this vision of modern fusion to life through seasonal recipes that bridge cultures and generations.
King completed a B.A. in Cognitive Science at the UC Irvine, graduated at the top of her class at the Culinary Institute of America, and is a certified level 1 sommelier. She helmed several Michelin-starred kitchens in San Francisco. She was the culinary curator for the 2022 Met Gala alongside Anna Wintour creating experiences that bridge food, art, and storytelling.
As a proud queer Chinese American, she is a leading voice in inclusion and representation. She has partnered with organizations like Stop AAPI Hate, World Central Kitchen, No Kid Hungry, and famously donated 100% of her Fan Favorite prize to support Asian Americans and LGBTQ+ organizations.
Her advocacy has been recognized by Out Magazine’s Out100 list and as Celebrity Grand Marshal of San Francisco Pride. She had the honor of introducing the first Korean American muppet on HBO Max’s Sesame Street: See Us Coming Together Special celebrating the AAPI community.
King has modeled for global campaigns for Levi’s and GAP celebrating diversity & LGBTQ visibility.
Based in San Francisco and New York, Melissa leads a creative culinary company producing global brand collaborations, immersive dining experiences, and her small-batch condiment line , King Sauce. With every project, Chef Melissa King continues to push the boundaries of American cuisine—bold, inclusive, and unapologetically her own.
FOR BOOKING:
General inquiries:
MEDIA, PRESS, & PUBLIC RELATIONS:
Ginger Chan (WME)
PARTNERSHIPS & ENDORSEMENTS:
Jeff Googel (WME)
Jenni Levine Michener (WME)
FILM & TV:
Addie Poris (WME)