-Welcome back to the show. -Thank you.
You always have such a really nice audience.
-They're so... -They're wonderful.
-...warm. -We have a line of South Africans.
-(cheering and applause) -Thank you. I heard.
That's how it-- that's how it happens.
Lots of good Indian food in South Africa.
Yeah, we actually have tons of Indian food in South Africa.
We have the highest population of Indians outside of India.
-A lot of people don't know that about us. -Really?
-Yeah. Yeah, that's us. -Well, Gandhi started in South Africa.
-Yes, that's true. Yeah. So a lot of people... -So, thank you.
Yeah. So, uh... That's just, uh--
My pleasure. Uh...
I made them all. Uh... (chuckles)
-Welcome back to the show. -Thank you.
Congratulations. Uh, season 16 of Top Chef.
And this is going to be the season finale.
I have to ask, when you spend every single working day eating
-some of the best culinary delights, -Mm-hmm.
do you just-- do you-- like, is your off time junk food?
-Is that what you do? -I mean, it's not junk food,
but it's really simple food.
-Right. -Like, I just want toast
or I want chicken soup
-or mashed potatoes. -Yes.
So not with, like, the drizzling thing
-on the thing. -No.
Yes, exactly. When you eat that much...
And it's not that I'm eating a lot--
-Right. -I am eating a lot--
but I'm eating a lot of all these different things.
-Yes. -So then your stomach starts to feel a bit murky
at the end of the day, so when I come out of Top Chef,
I just want the plainest, simplest, cleanest food,
-Right. -a lot of salads, a lot of vinegar, you know?
Just something that, like, takes you away.
Because the food is really amazing, and I...
you-you've... become associated with...
delicious food all around the world.
-I mean, because of the books you've written, -Yeah.
because of the shows that you've done.
Do you have a favorite food? Is, like, is there something
where you go like, "That is what I look forward to"?
Or are you just sick of food now?
-I mean... No, I'm not sick of food. -Okay.
I mean, I think that's why I'm uniquely qualified to do my job.
-Right. -You know, I have an endless appetite
and a curiosity, and, um...
I genuinely like simple things, like fried chicken--
that-that would be a nice treat--
-Right. -or I would have, like, just lentils and rice.
It's very boring, but it's my comfort food.
Um, I just like sometimes a toast with peanut butter.
I'm in that, like, weird kick now
-Yeah. -but I have to stop eating it,
'cause pomegranate season is over.
I've got a lot of sh... for that,
-so... -You-you... you've, uh,
you-you've created quite a stir online,
because you've started this trend on your Instagram
of, um, just eating food...
dare I say, extremely seductively.
-Um... -(laughter)
Oh, no, no, you judge me.
Watch the video, and then you t... Watch.
Here's-here's one of the videos,
-and you tell me what you think. -Okay.
(crunching)
PADMA (laughs): Yes, very seductive.
That's... and that's-that's ASMR.
-That's what that is, right? -Well, you know,
it's interesting, because I was online
and we stumbled on it, and I thought,
"Is this really true?"
And you see these people opening and closing bags
-Yes. Just making sounds. -or cutting soap
-Right. -or-or eating fried chicken.
And like I said, I was...
I had been on this pomegranate toast kick,
and, you know, it's very crunchy.
We started it because I was too busy to have a proper lunch,
and I made a quick sandwich, and I was sitting at a table,
and someone in my office just filmed me doing it.
-And then... -That person's creepy, by the way.
(laughter)
She's young and very innovative.
Um, but anyway, so, like, we just...
we didn't even put it on the feed--
we put it in stories, and it just...
people were really entranced by it.
I mean, I think one of the reasons...
one of the many reasons people like Top Chef
is because they like to watch the eating,
they like to live vicariously through me and Tom and Gail
and... and Graham.
So I think that has a lot to do with it.
I just don't understand the rest of it,
-but I don't... -(laughter)
I think it's funny, I really do.
I mean, I think-- also, people recognize my voice.
Like, sometimes, I'll be in a restaurant
with someone behind me and they won't have seen me,
but they'll hear my voice-- especially ordering--
-and they're used to me talking about food -I can imagine.
in a very specific, elaborate, you know, way, and so...
Do you throw people off in restaurants?
Like, do you feel the hustle
and bustle change when you walk in?
Because I would be intimidated if I was a chef
or worked inn a restaurant, and then Padma Lakshmi walks in,
and I would just be like, "It's a test.
It's a test. It's a test."
-Do you feel that, or is everyone just like...? -No.
-Th... -No. I mean, I-I get treated very well,
-as you would expect at restaurants. -Right.
And, you know, usually, they know I'm coming,
but I don't, I don't-- because I'm not judging them.
-You know, I'm in their restaurant. -Yes.
What is hard, and I know it's a high-class problem,
but is that they send a bunch of things from the kitchen,
-like little gifts, -That you didn't order.
-that I didn't order. And... -Ah, compliments of the chef.
-That's what they say. -Yeah, which is really nice,
except now I feel, you know, I have to eat it
'cause I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.
And I really did want to eat light,
-especially if I've just come off Top Chef, you know? -Right.
-But, as I said... -You should make it--
Instead of feeling bad and eating it, if you don't want
to eat it, you just pull, like, a judge-y move.
So you should get the food and then be like,
"I like your presentation but I feel like the display
doesn't match the flavors and the..."
Just do something like that, and they'll be like, "We--"
-Yes. You see? -The plating doesn't warrant a taste.
-The plating doesn't warrant a taste. -Exactly.
And then they'll be like, "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."
Um, your food has taken you around the world.
-The food that you love comes from around the world. -Mm-hmm.
You've always talked about how food
-can connect us as human beings. -Yeah.
And now, you've taken on a-a new role
as an ACLU ambassador, which is really amazing.
You're focusing on immigration
-and women's reproductive rights. -Yeah.
These are really powerful issues that are close to your heart.
And you travel speaking about that,
and now you're going to be taking on that role.
What is your goal? What do you hope to achieve in this role?
Well, I've been working with the ACLU in this capacity
for three years, but, I mean, now,
I'm also starting to work with the UN.
So the goodwill ambassadorship is a direct outcome,
I think, of working with the ACLU
and speaking out about immigration.
It's a issue that-- It's an issue
that's very close to my heart,
You know, I'm an immigrant.
I really came here with my mother much like these people
at the border, with hardly anything.
And what you have to understand, is that if a parent takes
a child on a dangerous journey, puts them on their back,
is willing to walk across deserts,
that's because the place they're leaving
is worse and more dangerous.
And I just think we have plenty to share.
And if you look at all the contributions
that immigrants have made,
you're basically looking at what America is today,
in whole, full stop.
(cheering and applause)
The, um...
There's no crisis. There's no crisis.
The only crisis is that we have a lunatic with a lot of power.
-(laughs) -That is the... that is the only crisis.
(applause)
He also eats his steak well-done,
just so you know.
-I'm not surprised. -I mean...
not that you needed another reason
-to call him a lunatic, but yes. -Probably...
-probably with ketchup, as well. -Oh, yes, he does.
-Really?! -No, yes.
-(laughs) -No, that... Oh, you didn't know that?
-I'm trying not to pay attention to him so much. -No, really.
He eats his steak well-done with ketchup. For real.
-Really? -That's a real, real thing that the president does.
-Yeah. That's, uh... -(laughter)
Um, before I let you go,
let-let's talk a little bit about some other causes
-that are close to your heart. -Mm-hmm.
One of the genuinely, um...
it was provocative, heartbreaking and brave moments
that I witnessed was, um, when you came out--
and it was really tied to the #MeToo movement
in and around the Brett Kavanaugh, uh...
you know, the confirmation hearings.
You-you wrote an op-ed in The New York Times
talking about your #MeToo story,
your story of being ashamed to come out
and your having to face,
-you know, what many women face in the world. -Mm-hmm.
Why do you think it's so important
to share those stories now,
and what do you think we could be doing better
to enable other women to tell those stories
to try and eradicate the scourge
of what the #MeToo movement is fighting against?
I think we really have to support our victims.
Whether, you know, they wind up being...
the perpetrator winds up being guilty or not,
it doesn't matter. You know, there's...
I don't know any person, any woman who would come forward
and-and say, "I... You know, this happened to me"
if it wasn't true
because the trauma that you go through
after you report is quite substantial.
And I had nothing to gain
and even more pain, you know, to experience
-if I had spoken up at 16. -Right.
And I think if I had been in a different climate,
I would have felt able to come out.
And I had every sign from, um, all around me
that I shouldn't speak up.
But now I'm in a different moment in my life.
I'm at peace. I'm serene.
I'm strong. I'm not a child.
And the world is different,
and so I have to act accordingly.
I hope that me speaking about it,
even though the outcome of that hearing was as... as we know,
I hope that other young women will be able to come out.
-I hope we'll be able to take the shame out of it. -Mm-hmm.
And, you know, I wanted to speak about it
because I think there are millions of women like me
who never reported.
And it's not because it wasn't so bad.
It's because it was so bad.
-That's why. -(applause)
Thank you again so much for being on the show.
-You're very welcome. -Wonderful having you.
The season finale of Top Chef
airs March 14 at 9:30 p.m. on Bravo.
Padma Lakshmi, everybody.