Padma Lakshmi Talks Top Chef Seattle and Secrecy

Seattle Times' Rebekah Denn scores an interview with Top Chef host and judge Padma Lakshmi, and Padma dishes on filming and summer in Seattle. Top Chef Seattle premieres tonight at 10 p.m. on Bravo. There's a big viewing party at Palace Kitchen and a smaller one at Bottleneck Lounge (we hear that Spinasse chef Jason Stratton will be a special guest. Here now, some of the more notable bits in Denn's piece:

On Secrecy: "I tried to keep a low profile, but it was hard. Honestly, I felt so rude, and I'm sure the local natives of Seattle must have an odd image of me, because I was in this very awkward and undiplomatic position of not being able to talk about why I was there."

On Twitter: "the one thing that Twitter has taught me is that I'm much less interesting than I want to be."

On Canlis: "the chef there (Jason Franey), who I think is really brilliant, and is doing a lot to modernize the menu while still being respectful to its history and tradition."

On Mothering: "I'm pretty much a stay-at-home mom when I'm not doing Top Chef, but there are things that take me away, like meetings or my culinary company . . . ."

Padma sounds pretty grounded throughout the interview. Go read the whole thing.

· Padma Lakshmi Speaks Out on Top Chef Seattle [Seattle Times]
· All Top Chef Seattle Coverage on Eater Seattle [-ESEA-]

[Photo: Michael Lavine / Bravo]