Katie Lee Biegel’s New Project Moves Fans to Tears
Katie Lee Biegel is stepping beyond the Food Network kitchen with a documentary project that hits close to home for many New Yorkers. The television personality and her husband, Ryan Biegel, are producing Top of the World through their company, Montalto Pictures. The film, set to premiere on CNN, tells the story of Windows on the World, the restaurant that once occupied the 107th floor of the World Trade Center’s North Tower.
A Story 25 Years in the Making
According to a report from August 11, the documentary is a collaboration between CNN Films, TIME Studios, Tribeca Studios, and Storyville Films, alongside Montalto Pictures. The film draws from Tom Roston’s 2019 book The Most Spectacular Restaurant in the World.
Top of the World premieres on September 7, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET on CNN, with streaming available on the CNN app the following day. The timing is deliberate — the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks falls that year.
The project isn’t a quick pivot for Biegel. She and Ryan have been building Montalto Pictures for years, quietly working on productions outside her on-camera Food Network role. The company’s involvement here puts her in a producer’s chair rather than in front of a stove.
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Remembering a Restaurant That Meant More Than Food
The Instagram trailer’s caption framed the restaurant’s significance: “Before 9/11, Windows on the World was more than a restaurant. It was a symbol of New York and a community of people from around the world who built lives there. 25 years later, their stories live on in CNN Films’ Top of the World.”
The restaurant wasn’t just a tourist spot. It was a workplace for hundreds of people, a venue for weddings and business dinners, and a place where immigrants built careers in the city’s hospitality industry. For many New Yorkers, it represented a version of the city that disappeared in a single morning.
Fans who saw Biegel’s announcement filled the comments with personal recollections. “Special memories there. May those lost rest in peace. 🙏,” one person wrote. Another said, “Windows was so beautiful. With the anniversary coming up my heart breaks. Feels like yesterday. 💔.” A third follower added, “It just gives me chills, we have not forgotten ✌️❤️.”
What Biegel Says About the Project
CNN’s press release included a statement from Biegel, as reported by Variety. “Ryan and I read Tom Roston’s The Most Spectacular Restaurant in the World when it was released in 2019, and from that moment on, we were determined to bring this remarkable story to the screen,” she said.
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She connected the restaurant’s history to the city’s own arc. “Windows on the World represented so much of New York City’s spirit, and the history of Windows, in many ways, mirrored that of the city itself. The stories featured in this documentary are emotional and inspiring,” Biegel added. “We are incredibly proud to be partnering with CNN on this project.”
The documentary’s release date sits just weeks before the anniversary of the attacks. That proximity will likely shape how viewers receive the film, and how the families of those who died at the restaurant — and in the towers — process it. The film promises to use archival footage and interviews to reconstruct what daily life was like for the people who worked and dined there.
For Biegel, the project represents a notable expansion of her public profile. She’s still known primarily for her work on The Kitchen, but Top of the World positions her in a different corner of the entertainment industry, one that deals with memory, loss, and historical reckoning rather than weeknight meal prep.
The documentary is scheduled to air at a moment when many Americans will be reflecting on the anniversary. Whether it becomes a definitive account of the restaurant’s legacy remains to be seen, but the emotional response from fans suggests the story still carries weight.
