Kelly Choi

Kelly Choi was born on February 7, 1976, in Seoul, Korea. She immigrated to the U.S. as a preschooler and grew up in central Virginia. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the College of William & Mary and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University in Manhattan. During her studies and afterward, Choi worked as a model with Ford Models, won the Elite Models Look of the Year, and served as a VJ for MTV Korea. Her height of 5′ 10″ distinguished her in the modeling world, contributing to her early career in media.

Choi transitioned to television in the New York area, initially hosting ‘Freckles’ on Plum TV, a lifestyle program focusing on affluent vacation communities like the Hamptons. In 2004, she joined nyctv (now NYC Media), where she was brought on by executive producers Arick Wierson and Trevor Scotland to host the pilot episode for ‘Secrets of New York.’ She subsequently hosted three seasons of the show, which was nationally distributed by PBS. Building on her success, Choi developed and hosted ‘Eat Out NY,’ an nyctv program that increased her public profile as a guide to the city’s restaurant scene. In 2006, ‘Eat Out NY’ and Choi gained wider recognition through a content-sharing arrangement with NBC’s flagship station WNBC, becoming popular fixtures in the Tri-State Region’s noontime viewing.

Her career further expanded in the culinary media landscape. In 2007, she appeared as a guest judge on the Food Network’s ‘Iron Chef’ and was selected to host the James Beard Awards, often referred to as the ‘Oscars’ of the food and restaurant industry. Choi also served as the host of Bravo TV’s ‘Top Chef Masters’ and is a contributing editor to ‘Eat This, Not That!’. She is the creator and host of ‘Food & Drink’ and, in 2011, co-hosted ‘Late Night Kung Fu.’ Her work has earned her three Emmy nominations from the New York chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.