Padma Lakshmi chats with EW about Emmys, leaving 'Top Chef', and exploring different cultures with 'Taste the Nation'.
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00:00 I consider myself a creative person and an artistic person
00:03 more than a business person.
00:05 I like to make things.
00:06 It's wonderful to know that after so many seasons,
00:13 people still love the show
00:15 and your colleagues appreciate the show.
00:17 You know, that's really what the Emmys do for you
00:20 is to know that those in the industry also admire your work
00:25 or are happy to have it be part of the elite list
00:29 of nominees.
00:30 I've stopped predicting.
00:32 The year we won, I wouldn't have thought we won.
00:35 You know, I mean, none of us thought we would win.
00:38 I mean, I was sat way up in Siberia with Gail,
00:42 and when we won, we were like, "What? Oh my God."
00:45 We jump up and then just see this ball of chiffon
00:49 and hair and jewelry, like, tumble down to the stage
00:53 where, you know, she and I are running up there.
00:55 And, you know, clearly nobody thought we were gonna win
00:58 because Dan Cutforth didn't even, like, write a speech
01:01 and he was, you know, he was as flabbergasted as all of us.
01:04 And it felt surreal, my dress tour,
01:07 as I was, you know, running to get on the stage
01:11 at the right time, by the right time,
01:13 'cause I knew they don't give us a lot of time.
01:15 And it felt really wonderful.
01:18 And, you know, I hope we can repeat that
01:20 at least for one of our Emmys, but let's see.
01:23 You have just 24 hours to open your own restaurant,
01:27 but this year we're setting the bar
01:29 even higher than ever before.
01:32 Of course.
01:33 You won't be building a restaurant from scratch.
01:36 This time, we are giving you a restaurant
01:39 with an existing infrastructure.
01:42 And it's not just any restaurant that we are giving you.
01:45 Should I guess?
01:47 It's mine.
01:49 Over the course of the 19 seasons,
01:53 I definitely got more comfortable
01:55 and I definitely learned
01:57 how to manage different personalities.
02:00 I want the best out of those contestants.
02:03 I want them to be expressive.
02:05 I want them to tell us what their intention is,
02:07 because if you're not rooting for those contestants,
02:10 then we don't have a show.
02:11 The contestants are the stars of "Top Chef."
02:14 Tom and Gail and I are not.
02:16 And every season, there's a new batch of chefs.
02:20 And for me, I, you know,
02:22 I get very emotionally attached to them.
02:24 And at first, the first few seasons,
02:26 they really wanted me to be very imposing and stern
02:30 because they wanted, you know,
02:31 they wanted to set our show apart from other shows
02:34 and communicate that it was a really serious show
02:38 about professional chefs.
02:40 But over the years, I found a middle ground
02:42 and a way to both be super serious about the food,
02:45 which we all are still,
02:47 but hopefully exude a little bit more empathy
02:51 towards the contestants and what they're going through.
02:53 And I think that's because I'm there every day.
02:56 I see what they're going through.
02:57 I've said this so many times,
02:59 but as difficult as "Top Chef" looks on TV,
03:02 it's way harder when you're there in person.
03:05 And so I really do feel for them.
03:08 And I'm so thankful that they're willing to come on the show
03:11 and compete.
03:11 I would never do "Top Chef."
03:14 It's just such a harsh,
03:16 it's like nothing you've ever done, you know?
03:18 And so I hope that over the years,
03:22 I've managed to still do my job really well as a host,
03:26 but that you've gotten to see more of my personality
03:30 and more of how I interact with the chefs
03:34 and with our guests seamlessly.
03:36 There are many, many reasons why I love "Top Chef."
03:40 We don't have time to go through all of them here,
03:42 but, you know, I wanted to make space in my life
03:47 for other creative projects.
03:49 I am so proud of "Top Chef," and I'm so sad to go.
03:54 It's very bittersweet.
03:56 Listen, there are like 129 people on that crew
03:58 that are like family to me.
04:00 But at the end of the day, I just,
04:03 I wanted another challenge
04:05 and I wanted to create my own projects
04:08 and really give a lot of care and attention
04:11 to "Taste the Nation."
04:13 How did you start?
04:14 How did you start with the idea of, you know,
04:17 I want to farm, yes,
04:18 but then I also want to teach
04:20 because those are two different things.
04:23 - I think the first,
04:24 recognizing the huge problem that we have in Puerto Rico.
04:28 (speaking in foreign language)
04:32 There are economic powers also.
04:38 They don't want us to produce more
04:39 because if we grow more, we are going to buy less.
04:43 - "Taste the Nation" is a show
04:45 that celebrates immigrant food and culture
04:48 in the United States,
04:49 but we also feature indigenous communities.
04:52 And the food is just an excuse to get to know the people,
04:55 to get to know their background, their cultures,
04:58 what are the issues that they're facing in their community.
05:01 And it's a show that goes much deeper
05:04 than a normal food show.
05:06 You know, it's not a lifestyle show.
05:08 It has a lot of heart and it's wonderful to watch,
05:11 I believe, with everybody in the family
05:13 because the one piece of feedback
05:15 we've gotten from everyone is that they learn so much,
05:18 not just about the food,
05:19 but about this country and about history
05:22 and all the things that they wish they had learned.
05:25 And I think that's my job to make all of that learning
05:29 seem fun and entertaining.
05:30 And I think people laugh as well and they have a good time.
05:33 And hopefully for those who like to cook,
05:35 they try some of the recipes.
05:37 That's why we're making them
05:39 with the people whose recipes they come from.
05:41 Like, I'm going to see a grandma
05:44 and she's going to teach me how to make this
05:46 re-glam dish for Easter.
05:47 Or, you know, I'm going to see the head chef
05:51 at this beautiful restaurant in DC called Lapis,
05:54 which has Afghani food.
05:55 And it's the best Afghani food I've ever had.
05:58 So that's fun too.
05:59 And you meet so many different people, all walks of life.
06:03 You know, of course, sometimes we have
06:05 really high-pollutant chefs on there,
06:07 but a lot of times there's just regular people.
06:09 And I never know what I'm going to get.
06:12 Every interview is different.
06:14 Before Taste the Nation, I could count on one hand
06:17 the amount of times that I had interviewed anybody
06:20 and it was never for television.
06:21 It was always just for a literary festival
06:24 or, you know, a food festival.
06:26 But this is something very different.
06:28 And so I had to kind of learn on the job
06:31 with Taste the Nation.
06:32 - There is this idealized image of America.
06:35 - Yeah. Immigrants need to have that sense of identity,
06:38 that sense of community to make sense of who you are.
06:41 (upbeat music)
06:44 - I tell my kids they can be different.
06:45 They can be loud.
06:47 This is my way.
06:48 - Of fighting for your own culture.
06:49 - Exactly.
06:50 - Champagne, pickles, vodka, my kind of party.
06:54 - I think you can tell a lot about a person
06:56 by what they eat.
06:58 You can certainly tell a lot about a culture
06:59 by how they eat.
07:01 You know, you can see what influences they've had.
07:04 You can tell what grows in their lands.
07:06 You know, it's such a corny and cliche saying,
07:09 you know, food brings people together,
07:10 but it really does.
07:12 Often people won't talk to you about politics or religion,
07:16 but everybody will talk to you about food.
07:17 You know, everyone has such fully formed opinions
07:21 about food.
07:21 And so I hope most of all that Taste the Nation
07:26 makes you want to say hi to that neighbor across the street
07:30 who you may not have had the curiosity
07:32 or the bravery to go up to and talk to,
07:35 or, you know, get to know your fellow Americans,
07:38 because this is an incredible country.
07:40 And we're so polarized right now,
07:42 but what I'm trying to do with Taste the Nation
07:44 is really in a positive way,
07:47 bring people together and show people that, you know,
07:51 yes, we may have different names.
07:53 We may have, you know, names that are difficult to pronounce
07:56 or, you know, our grandmas may have accents and stuff,
07:58 but actually there's so much more that really unites us
08:01 that we have in common.
08:03 And that also immigration is a great thing for our country.
08:06 It's what makes us a world superpower.
08:09 It's not only our military or our economy,
08:12 it's really this mix of so many cultures
08:15 that have contributed to the American culture.
08:17 And so that's why like even our pop culture
08:20 is really interesting.
08:21 Our books, our movies, our TV shows,
08:24 all of that is fed by all the different communities
08:26 who have come here over generations and generations.
08:29 And I think that's fascinating.
08:31 I would really love to go international.
08:34 You know, obviously we have a very small crew
08:36 and a very, you know, our budget is what it is,
08:39 but I would love to go and taste food,
08:43 like Turkish food in Berlin.
08:45 There's a very big Turkish population in Berlin
08:48 or Thai food in Australia or Indian food in London.
08:52 Right now in our civilization,
08:54 there's more migration than there has ever been.
08:57 And I always think it's cool when two cultures mix
09:01 or bang up against each other.
09:03 That third thing that those two cultures make,
09:06 to me is super exciting.
09:09 And any immigrant kid will tell you
09:10 there's so much code switching that goes on.
09:12 When you leave your house in the morning and go to school,
09:15 you're one person, when you come back,
09:17 all of a sudden you're another person.
09:18 And a lot of us had to navigate, you know,
09:22 different rules of ways of being or what was acceptable
09:27 in our homes and with our families versus out there,
09:30 you know, in the outer world where, you know,
09:32 it was all "American," whatever that meant.
09:35 And so I think that, you know,
09:37 there's a lot of fertile ground to cover.
09:40 And, you know, I think we've done a great job.
09:43 I'm so, so thankful for this Emmy nomination
09:46 because we were a tiny, tiny documentary show, you know,
09:50 and I'm up against some crazy talent.
09:54 You know, people that I have grown up as a kid
09:56 looking up to like Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey
10:00 are in this category.
10:01 And David Letterman is in this category
10:03 and Stanley Tucci and Camille Bell,
10:04 all people that I love and respect.
10:07 So we're definitely the underdog in this category,
10:11 but I'm very, very thankful.
10:13 And I think I have a lot more to do with "Taste the Nation."
10:17 I'd like to produce other projects,
10:19 whether I'm in front of the camera or not,
10:21 but I still have a lot to achieve.
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