Padma Lakshmi hosted Top Chef for 17 years before betting on herself and creating her own CBS show—America's Culinary Cup—from scratch. It's currently the No. 1 cooking competition series on television and just garnered two Critics Choice Award nominations. Not bad for someone who never went to culinary school!
But the truth is, Lakshmi has been boldly serving up success for decades. She began her career as a model and transitioned into food after becoming the host of Padma’s Passport, on which she cooked diverse cuisine from around the world, and Planet Food, a documentary series, both on the Food Network.
“There was no forethought,” she tells Parade. “There was just a push against the open door to take advantage of the opportunities that came to me. I had studied theater and literature, and I thought I was going to have a career as an actor.”
Still, the acting training paid off as she used her skills in front of the camera to build her culinary TV resumé. After leaving Top Chef, she created Taste the Nation, which won a 2021 Critics' Choice Real TV Award for Best Culinary Series. But the main dish is her new hit CBS series America’s Culinary Cup, where she was involved in every aspect of its development with her producing partners. That includes such minute details as selecting the thread used to embroider the names on the chefs’ coats and even the design of the winner’s trophy.
“I created this show exactly how I wanted to see a culinary competition show executed,” the 55-year-old says. “I'm very proud of the success and legacy that my other show has and that I've also helped build. But I wanted to refresh the genre. I wanted to take out all the gimmicks and the tricks that most competition shows throw in. I wanted to simplify it, bring it to a fresh and modern new start.”
The cast of 'America's Culinary Cup'Jackie Brown/CBS
In doing so, Lakshmi decided to challenge the 16 competing chefs with what she labeled "Culinary Commandments": Meat, vegetables, sauces, dessert, innovation, flavors, sustainability, world cuisine, consistency, and culinary science/technology.
“Each episode is different and structured, designed around one culinary commandment or principle of fine cooking,” she explains. “I think the biggest difference between our show and other competition shows is that we don't throw in obstacles. We give them all the weapons they need to succeed, provide them with an unparalleled kitchen with as many beautiful ingredients as they could want, and enough equipment to go around.”
America’s Culinary Cup, which airs Wednesday nights on CBS, drops its finale on May 13, and one talented chef will walk away with $1 million, the largest monetary prize for a culinary competition show. The path from the series premiere to its upcoming finale was not a direct one, but rather a winding road.
5 Things You Didn't Know About Padma Lakshmi (7:14)“There are so many twists and turns as you go through the season that even though I was there tasting the food and part of the judging process, I certainly didn't know how my two co-judges—Wylie Dufresne and Michael Cimarusti—would score,” Lakshmi says. “But there were things that surprised me. For instance, I had tasted Chris Morgan's food, and I was surprised that he was voted the least likely to win by his fellow competitors. And I was also very surprised that Beverly Kim [who was voted most likely to win] went home when she did, because she had been such a strong competitor and was so compelling the whole way through.”
Related: America’s Culinary Cup Reveals Powerhouse Lineup of 14 Guest Judges for $1 Million Cooking Competition (Exclusive)
There’s a lot of food on America’s Culinary Cup, and a lot of calories that come with it. And while that may not have been an issue for Lakshmi in her modeling days, it’s changed now at age 55. And that was actually something she took into consideration when developing the challenges.
“Models are usually freaks of nature,” she says. “They are models because they are extraordinary human beings physically. And part of being extraordinary is also your metabolism, so a lot of models are just naturally thin. When I was younger, I could eat anything and not gain weight. I was lucky, you know? Now it's about hard work.”
Ruvén Afanador/CBS
To help keep the hard work in the gym to a minimum, Lakshmi says she made sure that the chefs knew that, other than specific areas where they were judging for consistency, they knew they only needed to make tasting portions. So she’s usually taking one or two bites of something, three at the most.
“I want to pace myself. But I do go back for another bite if I'm unsure or if I didn't get that perfect bite of a little bit of everything on my fork,” she says. “It just depends. But I am cognizant of the fact that I don't want to get too full. But even if I am full, I still have to taste it thoroughly enough to judge it properly.”
Padma LakshmiDarren Goldstein/CBS
When structuring the CBS culinary competition, Lakshmi focused on American chefs, which also reflects her most recent cookbook, Padma's All American: Tales, Travels, and Recipes from Taste the Nation and Beyond.
“What I love about American cuisine is that it's this living, changing, developing organism,” she says about the new work. “People don't realize how regional American food is. It's a vast country where all kinds of things grow depending on where you live. And there's so many different influences on American food that, to me, it's the most exciting food in the world for that reason.”
Born in India on September 1, 1970, Lakshmi immigrated to the United States with her mother, Vijaya Lakshmi, an oncology nurse, when she was three. She first resided in New York City, later spending her high school years in La Puente, CA, where she lived with her mother and stepfather.
Related: Can Two-Time Top Chef Champ Buddha Lo Win Again? Inside His America’s Culinary Cup Strategy (Exclusive)
Lakshmi graduated from Clark University with a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts and American Literature and began her modeling career at age 21, becoming India’s first supermodel. When an agent discovered Lakshmi while she was studying in Madrid, that blossomed into her work on TV. Her on-screen appearances then expanded into cookbooks, including Easy Exotic; Tangy, Tart, Hot & Sweet; The Encyclopedia of Spices & Herbs; and her New York Times best-selling memoir Love, Loss, and What We Ate, and children’s book Tomatoes of Neela.
America’s Culinary Cup has yet to be picked up for its second season by CBS. But that’s not a problem for Lakshmi, who has many other projects on her plate. Notably, that includes her work with the United Nations Development Program, which takes her into a variety of communities to work with local leaders on various initiatives.
“What we've found in our research is that when you give women in a community the resources, it trickles down to everyone rather than [giving it to] the males,” she says. “We've also found that there's still a lot of sexism and chauvinism in the world. Not just in rural communities, but in very developed places. My job with them is to assist in bringing attention to their work more than anything, and it's been a privilege to do that.”
The biggest change of pace, however, is that Lakshmi recently tried her hand at stand-up and took improv classes as well. While comedy is currently on the back burner due to both America’s Culinary Cup and the scripted projects she has in development with her production company, she isn't forsaking it at all.
“I'm hoping that at least one or two of the [development projects] come to fruition in the next year,” she says. “I have been writing comedy and testing it out a little bit in local clubs and just wetting my feet.”
Related: Padma Lakshmi’s Love Life: From Ex-Husband to Possible Mystery Romance with ‘Top Chef’ Winner
Padma Lakshmi and daughter Krishna Lakshmi-DellPhoto by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
On top of her busy work schedule, Lakshmi is also a single mom. Daughter Krishna (whom she had with venture capitalist Adam Dell) is 16 years old and currently attends a New York City performing arts high school, no doubt following in her mother’s footsteps.
“I try to tell her that she should remember that it's about making the art, not about being famous or living a certain lifestyle,” Lakshmi says. “It's really about the hard work and artists, whether they're writers or actors or painters or singers—she's a songwriter, too—they are trying to illuminate or trying to tell us something about ourselves or each other. They're trying to reveal something about the world. And in order to do that, she has to find out about the world.”
It's safe to say that between being an Emmy-nominated TV host, food expert, bestselling author, producer, and activist, she's discovered that self-care is essential. Exercise helps her feel grounded and stronger, both physically and mentally.
“It's the only time that I really focus without being tested or emailed or called or having to answer to anybody,” she says. “I'm lucky enough to be able to afford to go to the gym and have the time in my schedule to do it. I don't take that lightly. Rather, I try to remember that, so on that morning that I don't want to get up and go to the gym, I remember that it's a privilege that many people don't have, and it helps to get my butt out of that bed.”
That, of course, leads to a question that fans of food competition shows always are dying to know. When you're not judging, what are you eating?
“Sixty percent of my diet is fruits and vegetables," Lakshmi reveals. “I'm lucky. I happen to love fruits and vegetables most, so it's not a chore for me. I try not to drink too much, I don't eat a lot of red meat, I don't eat a lot of sweets, I don't eat a lot of flour. I eat dairy, but I'm a very simple eater. Obviously, I'm a normal person, so I'll go out and have two margaritas and a cheeseburger and fries as well for dinner. But then the couple of nights after that, I’ll probably have something much more humble and clean and healthy.”
“I never feel guilty about taking any pleasure," she continues. "But occasionally, I will take a handful of flaming hot Cheetos from my daughter or eat a bite of her corndog. You want a life of balance."Indeed, between her time back on reality TV, her work behind the scenes, her writing, her family and her activism, it seems Padma Lakshmi's set of skills, like any good diet, is incredibly balanced.
Related: 'Top Chef' to Top Dollar! Padma Lakshmi's Net Worth in 2026
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