Padma Lakshmi

Padma Lakshmi is an Emmy-nominated food expert, television host, producer and a New York Times best-selling author. She is the creator, host, and executive producer of the critically acclaimed Hulu series Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi, which won a 2022 James Beard Award, multiple Critics Choice Real TV Awards and a 2021 Gotham Award for Breakthrough Series. Taste the Nation’s second season will debut in May 5th, 2023. Lakshmi also serves as host and executive producer of Bravo’s two-time Emmy-winning series Top Chef, now in its 20th season. Top Chef has been nominated for 37 Emmys, including her three-time nomination as Outstanding Host for A Reality-Competition Program. Padma released her first children’s book- The NYT best-selling Tomatoes for Neela, as well as edited The Best American Travel Writing in 2021. Lakshmi has penned two cookbooks- Easy Exotic and Tangy, Tart, Hot & Sweet, The NYT best-selling memoir Love, Loss and What We Ate, and The Encyclopedia of Spices & Herbs. Lakshmi is co-founder of the Endometriosis Foundation of America (EndoFound) and serves as an ACLU Artist Ambassador for immigrants' rights and women's rights. She was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and was awarded the 2021 Advocate of the Year Award by the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA).Padma is a visiting scholar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She received the 2018 Karma Award from Variety magazine, as well as the 2016 EIHS Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

Visit Barnes & Noble to learn more about Padma Lakshmi’s latest book Love, Loss, and What We Ate: A Memoir.