This is just heartbreaking. At only age 29, former ‘Top Chef’ star Fatima Ali has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and has only a year to live. We’ve got 5 things to know about the beloved cook.
Fatima Ali proved to be a total fan favorite when she competed on Top Chef: Colorado. She was also beloved by her fellow cheftestants as she exited the show in a very respectable seventh place in a season stacked with incredible cooking talents. After leaving the competition, Fati learned in late 2017 that she was suffering from Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of bone and soft tissue cancer. She beat the disease and was later declared cancer free, but it returned in Aug. of 2018. Fati just revealed in a heartbreaking Oct. 9 essay for Bon Apetit that her cancer is terminal and she has only one year to live. We’ve got five things to know about the dying 29-year-old chef.
1. Fatima is a native of Pakistan.
She grew up in the country with a passion for cooking and at the age of 18 begged her parents to let her move to New York to attend culinary school. According to her Top Chef bio, she won their approval “along with her mother’s caveat, that if she was going to be a chef, she had to be the best.”
2. Fatima is known for her exotic and flavorful cooking style.
She always made sure to use elements of her native Pakistan in her Top Chef dishes. Fati never failed to incorporated some type of spices or bold flavors from her homeland.
3. Fatima hoped to open her own restaurant.
She was well enough to finally begin cooking again in April of 2017. She appeared at the Pebble Beach Food and Wine festival and in an Instagram post revealed “I am so lucky to be able to still do what I love despite my illness and I can’t WAIT till my treatment is over so I can open up my own restaurant in beautiful California and show the world all the beautiful food of Pakistan.”
4. Fatima considers her fellow cheftestants her family.
Top Chef: Colorado featured one of the closest groups of chefs than any other season. Her fellow season 15 contestants have made videos supporting her cancer battle, hosted charity dinners with proceeds going to fighting cancer, and have stayed in constant contact with Fati during her health crisis. Her East Coast based chef contestants pay regular hospital visits to Sloane Kettering Cancer Center in New York where she’s waged her cancer battle.
5. Fatima’s dying wish is to dine at the world’s finest restaurants.
In her heartbreaking essay, she wrote that “I’m sketching a plan to eat my way through New York and the boroughs while I can.” She even said she wasn’t beyond dropping the cancer card to snag a reservation at the world’s top rated restaurant, Copenhagen’s Noma. The restaurant’s chef Rene Redzepi personally responded and is going to make sure she gets a table for two during their already booked up seafood season.
Source: Read Full Article