About
Kai Kani is a 21-year-old chef. Born and raised in Los Angeles, CA, at the tender age of 2, she would spend her afternoons watching the Food Network. By the age of 3 her mom had a new sous chef in the kitchen. By the time Kai was 6, her mom would let her cook on her own, as well as use her first knife. Kai would constantly study the science behind cooking. After school, Kai would come home and watch cooking documentaries, read cookbooks, and test recipes. Kai became homeschooled in 2014 and continued to be for all of her high school years. Being homeschooled allowed Kai the opportunity to focus on her craft and build her brand starting in Los Angeles and eventually around the world. Over the past 16 years Kai has tested her skills in the kitchen and crafted many dishes such as cabbage slowly cooked in coconut butter with smoked almond, wild spinach agnolotti with mascarpone, house made ricotta, and smoked brown butter, and kombu cured fluke with pear, lemongrass, and white soy. Along with her innovative dishes, Kai has also proven her skills as a pastry chef. She started her first baking business at the age of 10 “Kai’s Kakery,” which led her to hosting private events for The Oprah Winfrey Network, Kyle Richards of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Smokey Robinson, NIKE, and Adidas to mention a few. Kai is a Cooking Content Creator. She has amassed a large following on TikTok (@KaiCooking) where she teaches people all over the world how to cook and shares her knowledge of the culinary arts. With over 345,000 Followers, her viral videos garner millions of views. Kai has her own series on Tiktok with well known food & media blog The Kitchn. With her reputable brand she's had social media brand partnerships with companies such as Apple, Target, Direct TV, Walmart, Disney + and Kingsford to name just a few. Kai’s style of cooking is Modern American. The majority of her menus are Seafood and Vegetable driven. She focuses on using organically farmed and locally sourced ingredients. Along with 3 other pop ups Kai currently runs, in the beginning of 2018 she opened a 4 month Vegan Pop-Up on Melrose. At 13, Kai entered at “Union,” a highly claimed Northern Italian Restaurant in Pasadena under the tutelage of Bruce Kalman. She accompanied Bruce to New York City, as one of his sous chefs, when he asked her to cook with him at the James Beard House. At the age of 14, Kai started her first pop up restaurant, “KAI,” which features a highly seasonal 8 to 15 course tasting menu . From the success of the first pop up, KAI launched “KAI Brunch,” “KAI Catering,” and “MERAKAI. Kai has been apart of the 2016 Academy Awards Gift Bag. At 14, she was a featured professional chef on NBC’s “Food Fighters, and has been on “EXTRA.” In 2015, Kai was a guest chef on “The Talk,” where she did a cooking demonstration on 3 different dishes. Kai continues to run her successful brand doing events for high profile companies, clients and the public. You can follow Kai's culinary and personal journey through her TikTok @KaiCooking & Instagram @KaiKani. With a few cookbooks in the works, product development, television shows, and much more Kai continues in her constant pursuit of building the lasting brand KAI. |
Social Media Brand Partnerships |