- Khristianne Uy, or Chef K, grew up in the Philippines before moving to LA and attending culinary school.
- Her career began in the restaurant industry before she started cooking for high-profile clients.
- Now, she cooks for the entire Kardashian family and has expanded her brand into her own business.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Khristianne Uy, known as Chef K, a 42-year-old private chef for celebrities based in Los Angeles. It's been edited for length and clarity.
I grew up in the Philippines with two older brothers, my mom, who was a housewife, and my father, who was a cop. Everything in our family was about food — regardless of what we were eating, my mom would encourage us to talk when we sat around the table.
When I moved to Los Angeles with my family at age 12, I knew I wanted to go to culinary school. My father always instilled in us that education was the top priority and that you were on your own after school.
When I decided to go, my dad, who was very old school, just couldn't understand it. Then, I also came out gay. He said to me, "What do I deal with first? You're going to culinary school to learn how to cook — don't you know how to do that already?"
It gave me hope because he didn't completely shut it down, but he asked me why I didn't want to be a nurse — it felt like all Filipinos were nurses then, and my older brother went to nursing school. I explained to him that culinary school was what I wanted.
I had my father's approval but didn't necessarily have his support
I was studious and punctual, made sure I made the Dean's honors list, and I got that proud Asian parents' moment.
After graduating, I didn't know how to pay back the more than $100,000 in student loans I'd taken out, but I started working at restaurants and resorts and doing restaurant consulting. I was introduced to working as a private chef through someone I met at work.
Once I started — even though it was foreign and intimidating — I grew to love it. It brought me back to those moments of my mom cooking in the kitchen.
I loved being in someone's home, seeing their reactions, and interacting with families
I wanted to be part of the Western tradition. I learned about it through my cooking classes, but things like Thanksgiving were still foreign to me. There are no turkeys in the Philippines, but now I'm known for my Thanksgiving meal.
In 2003, I did a one-year unpaid internship with a seasoned private chef to advance my career. I told her I'd do whatever it took, and to make it work, I took out more loans.
From there, I started working with her to cook for Simon Fuller. Then, I met James Cameron's wife, Susan Cameron, who I started working for. I learned so much about the traditions of Western culture from their family.
Being a private chef is different because there's no ego
You have to get curious about what your clients want and ask them how you can improve. There's also magic that happens in a family's kitchen, and as a private chef, I get to make Grandma's recipes, which are on an index card in the cupboard.
If you were to tell most people that their jobs would require them to never spend a holiday with their family, they wouldn't want to do it, but I do, and I'm happy to do it. I think that's why I've had longevity in my career, where many other chefs get burned out. I have so much gratitude.
I went on to work with all kinds of celebrities, from Charlie Sheen to the Jonas Brothers. I realized I didn't think I would ever return to the restaurant world — it was too monotonous for me.
I was working for Ryan Seacrest when my father died
I had moved to New York to cook for him, but my father's dying wish was for me to be with my mom in California, so I moved back.
Typically, when you leave a job, there's hurt there — but instead, Ryan wanted to help and asked me if I had anything lined up in LA. When I told him no, he called Kris Jenner.
I started working for the Kardashians in 2015 and still work for them. I cook for all of them at all of their houses, depending on who needs me and when. I make sure to keep all their favorites stocked — everything from animal crackers to salads — as well as cook for their themed family events.
I have a small team of eight that helps me, and I like to keep it that way because it's my name if something breaks or goes wrong.
I do everything back of the house because I'm shy. Even when they're filming The Kardashians on Hulu, I hide in the pantry or duck down. At first, I was nervous about giving up my privacy and time to myself, but I thought it might help fortify me as I think about retirement, spending more time with my mom, and focusing on creating my own family.
After 20 years, I've learned a lot
First, never battle with the missus. She's the queen, and you have to do things the way she wants them done, even if you don't agree because it's not your house.
I know kids are the best and worst critics, so as long as the children are happy, the mom is happy. If a child just wants buttered pasta and broccoli, I'm thinking about how I can add protein — but usually on the side because kids hate things touching.
You also learn to adapt to challenges and problem-solve. There have been situations where I plan to feed a certain number of people, and 100 more show up.
Another time, I had an event, and a team member forgot to close the refrigerator the night before. Tens of thousands of dollars worth of fish flown in from Japan had gone bad. We went to every vendor we could think of to buy fish to make the event happen.
In addition to being a private chef, I've been able to build my own businesses
During quarantine, I started Karts by Chef K because I knew my clients were scared. I provided a roll-up service where I didn't have to be in the kitchen but could provide a fully customized meal. We would do sliders and fries, barbecue, and even snow cones. It provided so much nostalgia and made people feel like kids again.
I'm also into social media now. I was cooking for James Charles a few years ago, and he asked me to do a TikTok with him. I didn't even know what he meant — I was like, "I don't know how to dance." He had me give him my phone, and he and his social media manager made me a TikTok, which blew up. I couldn't believe it.
Now, I work with brands on partnerships, which helps me do new things for my clients and learn about the next big trends. This new role as an influencer also allows me to have an online community.
There's so much on the horizon, I'm working on a cookbook and some docuseries — maybe even my own reality show. It's time to get comfortable with coming out of my shell.
Want to share your story working for a celebrity? Email Lauryn Haas at [email protected].