Melissa King at First Parish Church

Harvard Book Store welcomes Melissa King—James Beard Award-winning chef, author, television personality, and author of the acclaimed cookbook Cook Like a King: Recipes from My California Chinese Kitchen—for a discussion of her new memoir, The Girl Who Became King. She will be joined in conversation by Karen Akunowicz—celebrity chef, as well as Chef and Owner of Fox & the Knife Enoteca in South Boston, Bar Volpe Ristorante, and Fox Pasta Company.

There are two ticket options for this event.

1. Book-Included Tickets: Includes admission for one and one hardcover copy of The Girl Who Became King, pre-signed by the author. Following the presentation, the author will personalize books (first names only).
2. Admission-Only Tickets: Includes admission for one.

Note: Books bundled with tickets may only be picked up at the venue the night of the event, and cannot be picked up in-store beforehand. Ticket holders who purchased a book-included ticket and are unable to attend the event will be able to pick up their book at Harvard Book Store up to 30 days following the event. This offer expires after 30 days. Please note we cannot guarantee signed copies will be available to ticket holders who do not attend the event.

From award-winning chef, author, television personality, and activist Melissa King comes an intimate, captivating memoir about family, food, and finding her voice as a queer Chinese American chef.
Growing up, Melissa King lived for the moment she would come home from school, grab her prized meat cleaver, and call her mom at work for instructions on how to prepare dinner for her family. She already knew cooking was her future, but she didn’t know just how much she’d have to fight to make that dream a reality.
Caught between two cultures growing up, King felt like she was stuck in a box that was only getting smaller. Her Shanghainese and Cantonese heritage meant that her immigrant parents had certain expectations—none of which included going to culinary school or falling in love with women. American culture also dictated that restaurant kitchens were a man’s world. But trying to live by these rules felt like no life at all. So King broke the mold, ending up in some of the most exciting fine dining kitchens in San Francisco and finding a home in its queer community. But after relentlessly working her way up from arranging cold appetizers to manning the meat station, and embracing her multilayered identity, she began to feel the culture she all but left behind begin to pull at her.
When she entered Top Chef as a reluctant contestant, inspired by her grandmother’s advice to follow her heart, her signature flavors—seasonal dishes melding California and Chinese cuisines—awakened and flourished as she looked to her heritage and hometown for inspiration. And being in the public eye connected her with her parents in a new way, allowing them to come to a loving mutual understanding of each other's strengths and flaws.
In this heartfelt memoir, King shows that empowerment comes from embracing all the different ingredients that make up who she is, and believing in herself against the odds.

Melissa King is a James Beard Award-winning chef, author, and television personality. She is the author of the cookbook Cook Like a King: Recipes from My California Chinese Kitchen, which won the 2026 James Beard Award. She is the winner and fan favorite of Bravo’s Top Chef: All Stars L.A. and holds the record for the most challenge wins in the show’s history. Known for her modern California Chinese cuisine, she is a leading voice shaping conversations through food, cultural storytelling, and advocacy. A queer Shanghainese Cantonese American, she grew up in Los Angeles’s San Gabriel Valley. Her work has since taken her beyond the kitchen into television, fashion, and culture, including hosting Tasting Wild for National Geographic, curating the 2022 Met Gala menu, and being featured in global campaigns for Levi’s and GAP. She lives in San Francisco. Photo Credit: Ashley Batz

Karen Akunowicz is a celebrity chef, restauranteur and the 2018 James Beard Foundation Award winner for Best Chef: Northeast. In 2020 her debut restaurant Fox & the Knife was a James Beard Award finalist for Best New Restaurant in America. Chef Karen is the Chef/Owner of Fox & the Knife Enoteca in South Boston, Bar Volpe Ristorante, and Fox Pasta Company Chef Karen has been touted as “Boston’s Queen of Pasta” and her restaurant Fox & the Knife was called an “Instant Classic” by Food & Wine Magazine and named one of their “Best New Restaurants in America”. In 2024 Chef Karen opened her third restaurant, Fox & Flight by Karen Akunowicz in Logan Airport in Boston. Chef Akunowicz is a well-known television personality as a fan favorite on Bravo TV’s Emmy-nominated show Top Chef (seasons Season 13 as well as All-Stars). She is a rising star on The Food Network’s Tournament of Champions 3-5 and has appeared as a judge on Top Chef, Top Chef Canada, America’s Worst Cooks, Guy’s Grocery Games and America’s Test Kitchen Next Generation. She is a recurring Judge on Beat Bobby Flay. She was named one of the “21 Badass Women Changing the Food World” by Marie Claire Magazine and is the author of Crave: Bold Recipes That Make You Want Seconds.