Padma Lakshmi is perhaps best known as the veteran host of the popular television show Top Chef. But long before she became a public figure, Lakshmi was an Indian-American kid living in 1970s New York — a city whose culinary diversity cultivated her love of both Indian street food and bacon cheeseburgers. In this candid conversation, Lakshmi discusses her New York roots, her Desi identity, the Indian food she’s dying to see on Top Chef, and why she has no love for Disney princesses.