If you ever happen to interview Padma Lakshmi, do yourself a favour and let her pick the location. That way, you might just find yourself enjoying a piping hot plate of spicy orecchiette at an unassuming East Village trattoria in New York City while the former model converses in fluent Italian with the restaurant’s owner.

To anyone who’s watched Top Chef, the popular competition series that has introduced TV viewers around the globe to phrases like “sous-vide” and “mise en place”, it should come as no surprise that Lakshmi, 45, would turn a standard interview into a culinary adventure.