Padma Lakshmi pens an emotional tribute to Top Chef's Fatima Ali

People

"I first got to know Fatima through her food," the Top Chef host writes in an essay for People of Ali, who died Friday after battling bone cancer. "I was hard on her—not with my judging but with the tenor of my feedback. Not only did I think she could take it, but I knew she wanted me to give it to her straight. I could feel how focused she was. I challenged her openly to do better because I knew she could. I saw my younger self in Fatima. We connected as immigrants and as women of color working in food. We both knew we needed to fit in while staying true to our roots. But we had more than shared backgrounds. She was different. When the show aired in 2018, I saw the other side of her—how funny she was, how keenly she got the psychology of the contest."