Aarti Sequeira

In August 2010, Aarti Sequeira, a dedicated foodie, competed on and won season six of Food Network’s number one series, Food Network Star, landing her very own Food Network show.
Aarti Sequeira as seen on Cooking Channel's Drop 5 Pounds

Aarti Sequeira as seen on Cooking Channel's Drop 5 Pounds

Photo by: Jeremiah Alley ©2011, Cooking Channel, LLC

Jeremiah Alley, 2011, Cooking Channel, LLC

Aarti Sequeira as seen on Cooking Channel's Drop 5 Pounds

In August 2010, Aarti Sequeira competed on and won season six of Food Network’s number one series, Food Network Star, landing the ultimate dream culinary job: her very own Food Network show. A dedicated foodie all her life and a journalist by education and trade, Aarti successfully combines these passions in her entertaining blog and online cooking-variety show, Aarti Paarti (www.aartipaarti.com). Now she takes her food knowledge, love for cooking and enthusiasm for sharing information with the masses to her Food Network cooking series, Aarti Party. On this daytime cooking series, she surprises viewers with unexpected flavors and techniques to expand their palates and culinary repertoire by imparting her knowledge of Indian cuisine and putting an approachable spin on all-American classics. On Cooking Channel's Drop 5 Lbs with Good Housekeeping, she shares realistic tips on how to have a new approach to eating better, getting healthier and getting the most out of life.

Born in Bombay, India, and raised in Dubai, UAE, Aarti’s lifelong appreciation for food began at a young age, inspired by her faith, mother, cultural background and never-ending food experiments. Growing up in a traditional Indian Catholic family, Aarti spent Fridays dining on fish and Sundays at church. Her fondest food memories include her father’s weekly trips to the market for fresh fish and produce, her mother’s daily recipe creations and even pretending to host her own cooking show — an unexpected glimpse into her future as a Food Network star.

After completing Dubai’s British system of schooling, including many music-related activities like piano and choir, Aarti moved to Chicago in 1996 to attend Northwestern University. In 2000, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Journalism at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism with an adjunct major in International Relations. While pursuing her degree, Aarti gained valuable media experience working at the school’s student-run radio and television stations and also spent a short time in Washington, D.C., covering Capitol Hill for a local Fargo, N.D., television station. Upon graduation, Aarti worked for about a year at CNN as a production assistant in Chicago before moving to New York in 2001 to work as a CNN producer for two years. Then in 2003, she married her college sweetheart, Brendan, and moved from New York to Los Angeles to start their life together.

In addition to working several freelance gigs in the Los Angeles entertainment industry, Aarti began working with a Peabody Award-winning director in 2005 on Sand and Sorrow, a documentary about Darfur that aired in 2008 on HBO. Meanwhile, feeling like something was still missing, Aarti enrolled in The New School of Cooking in Culver City, Calif., where she earned her professional cooking certificate in 2007. To further explore her culinary calling, Aarti launched her blog in 2007 and online cooking-variety show in 2009, both titled Aarti Paarti (www.aartipaarti.com).

In addition to cooking, Aarti enjoys improv theatre, music, Middle Eastern dance, visiting art galleries and attending church. Aarti currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband, Brendan, while her parents and youngest sister live in Bangalore, India, and her middle sister lives in Phoenix.

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Aarti Sequeira

Aarti Sequeira

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