New Daytime Series – ‘Aarti Party’ – Premieres August 22^nd at 12pm ET/PT

NEW YORK – August 16, 2010 – After 10 weeks of heated culinary competition jam-packed with 18 intense challenges, Los Angeles food blogger Aarti Sequeira won The Next Food Network Star as revealed during the season six finale last night. Up against San Francisco’s Tom Pizzica  and Atlanta’s Herb Mesa in the final challenge, Aarti’s impressive pilot ultimately helped her win the title and her dream Food Network show, Aarti Party, set to premiere this Sunday, August 22^nd at 12pm ET/PT. In addition to the new show, Aarti will be featured in Food Network Magazine and at the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival in October.

“Aarti has that all-too-rare combination we seek in our stars: a passionate food expert who is warm, radiant, fun, and relatable,” said Bob Tuschman, General Manager and Senior Vice President, Programming & Production, Food Network. “Aarti also brings a new world of flavors to Food Network and is perfectly suited for viewers seeking new inspirations.”

On her new daytime series, Aarti invites viewers to join her for a playful Aarti Party, where she shares approachable and delicious ways to enhance American favorites with simple but unique Indian influences. Whether she’s sprucing up everyday pulled pork sandwiches and perfectly roasted chicken or taking classic bread pudding and basic red lentils to new heights, Aarti cleverly combines the familiar with the exotic to create mouthwatering meals. No matter the occasion, Aarti Party promises great food and endless fun for home cooks everywhere. For more information, recipes, and videos, visit: www.foodnetwork.com/aartiparty.

Born in Bombay, India, and raised in Dubai, UAE, Aarti’s culinary inspiration stems from her cultural background, family recipes, and never-ending food experiments. After working as a producer at CNN and completing several freelance gigs in the entertainment industry, the Northwestern University journalism graduate trained at The New School of Cooking in Culver City, Calif., and earned her professional cooking certificate in 2007. She further explored her culinary calling by starting a blog and online cooking-variety show called, “Aarti Paarti” in 2008. Aarti and her husband, Brendan, currently live in Los Angeles.

In additional news about The Next Food Network Star, Food Network is excited to announce that runner-up Tom Pizzica will host the new primetime series Outrageous Food, premiering November 2010. Production begins today for this traveling food show featuring out-of-this-world eats. Additionally, casting for season seven of The Next Food Network Star, set to air in 2011, is currently underway. For information about open-call auditions, applications, rules, and submission instructions, visit www.foodnetwork.com/starcasting.

Aarti Sequeira Biography
Food Network Shows: Aarti Party, The Next Food Network Star: Season 6

In August 2010, Aarti Sequeira competed on and won season six of Food Network’s number one series, The Next 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.

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 assisted a Peabody award-winning director on Sand and Sorrow, a documentary about Darfur in 2004. 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 and online cooking-variety show, “Aarti Paarti” (www.aartipaarti.com), in 2008.

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.