Former Top Chef contestant Fatima Ali, who works as a chef in New York City, was diagnosed with a rare cancer last year. She was treated for Ewing sarcoma, a cancer that occurs in bones and the tissue around the bones, shortly after filming Season 15 of the Bravo reality series. Host Padma Lakshmi was right beside her in the hospital when she went into surgery.
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I’d love it if everyone joins me today in saying a special prayer for our @cheffati who went into surgery a couple hours ago. She was in good spirits when we walked her into OR, and am hoping for a great outcome today. #topchef #topchefmemories @bravotopchef #fuckcancer
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And though her doctors told her the cancer was gone, it didn’t last. Last month, Ali was told her cancer returned, and this time it was terminal. Doctors now say she only has one year to live, regardless of how her chemotherapy treatments turn out.
In a moving essay for Bon Appetit, Ali has opened up about knowing her cancer is terminal, and how she is spending her days knowing she doesn’t have much time left. And naturally, given her profession, a lot of those plans have to do with food.
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Ali, who was also the first Pakistani woman to win on Chopped, had made plans to open a restaurant serving modern Pakistani cuisine. “I used to dream of owning my own restaurant. Now I have an ever growing list of the ones I need to visit,” she wrote.
When she shared her story to try to get a reservation at the famous Copenhagen restaurant Noma, she received a message from the chef himself, Rene Redzepi. “Turns out that people respond when you tell them you’re dying of cancer,” she wrote.
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Street Fighter lewks. Just have to keep on ‘tekken’ even when there is shit all around ya. #lewks #blondeshavemorefun #nah
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Though she is keeping her spirits up—and keeping her sense of humor intact—she explained in the essay about how her cancer has transformed her outlook on life. “It’s funny, isn’t it? When we think we have all the time in the world to live, we forget to indulge in the experiences of living. When that choice is yanked away from us, that’s when we scramble to feel,” she wrote. “I am desperate to overload my senses in the coming months, making reservations at the world’s best restaurants, reaching out to past lovers and friends, and smothering my family, giving them the time that I so selfishly guarded before.”
Lakshmi paid tribute to Ali in a moving Instagram post Wednesday. “I hope that this year brings her as much as she can hope for,” she wrote. “You’ve said on the show that growing up I inspired you. But Fati, now, it’s you who inspire me. Everyday.”
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Dear friends, I have seen @cheffati grow and blossom every day I walked into the @bravotopchef kitchen. I have seen Fatima’s ambition sharpen over weeks of competition, seen her soar along with all of you. Most of you will read Fatima’s writing for the first time in this @bonappetit piece. Since her diagnosis I have been fortunate enough to get to know her deeper and in a new light. Over these months, I have come to know her family. Her mother has shown me her older writing which is just as poignant. I am pleased to share my friend’s story with you all today. I am so proud of her. I can tell you that in these months I have not only seen her continue to find her voice, but been inspired by her exponentially. I have gotten to know most of her family and in them I see my own. I was in the hospital with her the morning she had surgery months ago and witnessed her courage. The day after my @nytimes piece came out, I went to see her, and she cheered me on by holding my hand from the hospital bed, assuring me I had not flayed myself in vain. I was with her last night as she went in for radiation and she still turned back to smile at her mother and me when the nurse with the wheelchair came. I hope that this year brings her as much as she can hope for. You’ve said on the show that growing up I inspired you. But Fati, now, it’s you who inspire me. Everyday. I love you Fati. Link in bio. #teamfati
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