MUKOYAR

Padma Parvati Lakshmi, Lady Rushdie (born September 1, 1970) is an Indian American cookbook author, actress, and model. She has been the host of the US reality television program Top Chef since season two. In 2010, Top Chef was nominated for an Emmy Award and won for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program.

Padma Lakshmi (b. 1970) is a New York-based Indian American model, actress and award-winning cookbook author. Starting with season two, she has been the host of the reality television program Top Chef. Lakshmi was born in Delhi, India, to South Indian Tamil Brahmin parents, grew up in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and in New York City, and is fluent in five languages - English, Hindi, Italian, Spanish, and Tamil. Her first name literally means "lotus" in Sanskrit.