Khristianne Uy, better known as Chef K, has been a celebrity chef for decades. Her list of celebrities is extensive, ranging from Charlize Theron, Salma Hayek and Justin Bieber, but her most famous performance is with the Kardashian-Jenner family.
She credits Ryan Seacrest with setting her on this path. Uy made “breakfast, lunch and dinner” for the former American Idol host in California before moving with him to New York when he got the call to host Living with Kelly and Ryan in 2017.
“He asked me to move to New York and I did, because I admire him as a human being. It’s rare to find someone like that,” she tells PEOPLE.
After about a year of living in the Big Apple, her father died and Uy wanted to return to the West Coast.
Chef K.
Pierre Schnapps
“I told Mr. Seacrest that I had to come home and that my father’s dying wish was for me to be close to my mom,” she recalls. “I thought he was going to be so upset because he just moved me outside, set me up with everything, and now I’m leaving. The first thing he said, I’ll never forget it, was: ‘Cook, do you have anything to prepare at home?'”
According to Uy, he immediately answered the phone, called and passed her the phone with Kris Jenner on the other line.
From that one phone call, “I went from one male boss to 20 girls,” she laughs.
Almost a decade later, the Filipino chef is collaborating with the stars The Kardashians for all their major events and holidays, watching the family grow along the way.
Kris Jenner recreates Khloé Kardashian’s cookie stacking technique for Oreo Super Bowl ad — watch the teaser
“I literally saw Mason and didn’t recognize him! And it’s only been a few months!” she says of eldest child Kourtney Kardashian. “Most of the current kids weren’t even seeds yet [when I started].”
The cook cooked for the family more often, but during the pandemic, with Kris’s blessing, she opened a catering company. Now she cooks for their special occasions, like Kourtney’s bachelorette party.
Just this past Christmas, Uy helped recreate one of Kris’ favorite dishes through a partnership with Rao’s Homemade.
“One of Ms. Jenner’s favorite dishes is eggplant parmesan, and I wanted to spice it up a bit without changing too much of the flavor profile that she loves,” she says. “So I just grilled the eggplant, and then I put some ricotta on it, I put some turkey stuffing on it, I kind of gave it a holiday vibe, and I sauteed it in Rao’s Homemade marinara.”
The Kardashian-Jenner holiday meals differ from the average household. Before holidays like Christmas, Uy explains that there are three days of themed dinners where the whole family gets together, like “Mexican Tuesday, Asian Wednesday, Italian Thursday.”
Although she likes to cook for Easter and Christmas, Uy really looks forward to special, themed parties.
“The kids’ birthday party themes are so creative, especially with North, who designs her own parties,” she says of daughter Kim Kardashian.
Uy takes to her social media to share videos of intricate (and delicious) food from family parties, like Khloé Kardashian Tatum’s youngest son’s space-themed birthday party or Kim’s son Saint’s football-filled celebration. Her Instagram and TikTok are full of behind-the-scenes looks at her other celebrity clients’ parties. As a result, she has amassed nearly 300,000 followers across the two platforms.
“Everyone just sees, it’s a famous client. But no, at the end of the day, it’s humbling to know we’re all eating the same,” she says. “And if I can help save some good memories, I’ve done a good job.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education