Aarti Sequeira

Aarti Sequeira was born in Mumbai, India, on August 19, 1978. Her family moved to Dubai when she was an infant, where she spent her early years and was educated in both Indian-attended and British schools. Her passion for cooking was evident from a young age, inspired by her mother and grandmother, who were both influential cooks. She started her own recipe journal at age 10. In 1996, Sequeira moved to the United States. She pursued a career in journalism, attending Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and graduating in 2000 with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and an adjunct major in International Relations. She then worked at CNN as a production assistant in Chicago and later as a segment producer in New York City, covering significant events such as the September 11 attacks until 2003.

In 2004, Sequeira relocated to Los Angeles, California. After freelancing for CNN and working on the documentary “Sand and Sorrow,” she began to explore her culinary interests more seriously. She received a professional certificate from the New School of Cooking in Culver City in 2007. In 2008, she launched her online cooking variety show, “Aarti Paarti,” and an accompanying food blog, AartiPaarti.com, blending Indian and Middle Eastern dishes with comedic elements. This venture led her to audition for and ultimately win the sixth season of Food Network’s “The Next Food Network Star” in 2010. Her victory led to her own show, “Aarti Party,” which premiered a week after her win, focusing on infusing Indian flavors into American dishes. This show marked Food Network’s first series dedicated to Indian cuisine and established Sequeira as one of the network’s first Asian hosts.

Following “Aarti Party,” which ran for three seasons, Sequeira continued her career on the Cooking Channel, hosting “Taste in Translation” and co-hosting “Drop 5lbs with Good Housekeeping” in 2013. She has also appeared as a contestant and judge on various Food Network shows, including winning “Cutthroat Kitchen All-Stars” and “Chopped All-Stars.” She is a frequent judge on “Guy’s Grocery Games,” where Guy Fieri nicknamed her “the spice queen.” In 2014, she published her cookbook “Aarti Paarti: An American Kitchen with an Indian Soul,” which became a Top 10 Indian cookbook on Amazon. More recently, she released “My Family Recipe Journal: With Prayers and Scriptures” and has appeared on “Selena + Chef” on HBO Max in 2020, and as a judge on “Holiday Wars” and “Halloween Wars” since 2021. Sequeira is married to Brendan “Bren” McNamara, and they have two daughters. She is also an advocate for women suffering from post-partum mood disorders.