Padma Lakshmi on Sex, Salman Rushdie and the End of Her Tempestuous Marriage
When Padma Lakshmi, a model and young cookbook author, met Salman Rushdie in 1999, she was dazzled by his brilliance.
"For us Indians, he's like Hemingway," says Lakshmi, who sat down with PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly editorial director Jess Cagle to talk about her new memoir, Love, Loss and What We Ate.
"Imagine a young woman in her twenties, who loves books and and who had published her little cookbook and in comes this guy," she says. "I mean, he was the best thing that ever happened to me by a mile. The fact that somebody of that stature and caliber was even interested remotely enough in me to want to take me to lunch was kind of unbelievable."
They met in Central Park for their first date, and ended up in bed together. "He seduced me with his words," she says. "I was pretty hooked."
When Padma Lakshmi, a model and young cookbook author, met Salman Rushdie in 1999, she was dazzled by his brilliance.
"For us Indians, he's like Hemingway," says Lakshmi, who sat down with PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly editorial director Jess Cagle to talk about her new memoir, Love, Loss and What We Ate.
"Imagine a young woman in her twenties, who loves books and and who had published her little cookbook and in comes this guy," she says. "I mean, he was the best thing that ever happened to me by a mile. The fact that somebody of that stature and caliber was even interested remotely enough in me to want to take me to lunch was kind of unbelievable."
They met in Central Park for their first date, and ended up in bed together. "He seduced me with his words," she says. "I was pretty hooked."