Nilou Motamed facts for kids
Nilou Motamed is an American magazine editor and TV personality. She was born in Iran. Many people know her as a judge on the TV show Iron Chef. She used to be the main editor for Food & Wine magazine and Epicurious.
Early Life and Education
Nilou Motamed was born in Tehran, Iran. She spent her early childhood there. After the Iranian Revolution, her family moved to Paris. Later, when she was a teenager, they moved to New York.
Nilou went to Binghamton University in New York. She also studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. She earned two degrees: one in Political Science and one in Philosophy. Nilou is very good with languages. She can speak four languages: English, French, Spanish, and Persian.
Career in Media
In 2000, Nilou Motamed started working at Travel + Leisure magazine as an Associate Editor. She quickly moved up, becoming the Food Editor and then the Features Director. She also worked as a Senior Correspondent.
For 14 years, Nilou was in charge of the food and restaurant stories for Travel + Leisure. She started the magazine's yearly "Food & Travel" issue. She also created the "Eat Like a Local" special. Her food stories for Travel + Leisure were nominated for eight James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards. These awards are very important in the food world.
Nilou worked with CNN to create the "Eat Like a Local" special. This project combined print, online, social media, and TV to share food stories from all over the world. She has also hosted several TV shows. These include a restaurant review show called Reservations Required and Travel Spies on Travel Channel. She has appeared on many TV channels, like CNN, NBC's Today, and CBS This Morning.
In 2013, Nilou became the editor-in-chief of Epicurious. This is a popular online food website owned by Condé Nast. In 2015, she took on a new role as the first Director of Inspiration for Conrad Hotels & Resorts. In this job, she helped make the guest experience better for 24 luxury hotels around the world. She also created the brand's "1/3/5" collection of local experiences for guests.
In 2016, Nilou Motamed became the editor-in-chief of Food & Wine magazine. She managed all the content and operations for the magazine, which reached over 12 million people. She oversaw important parts of Food & Wine, like the yearly Best New Chefs showcase and the FWx food website.
Since 2008, Nilou has often appeared as a guest on Bravo's TV show Top Chef. For Season 16, which took place in Kentucky, she became a regular judge on the show. She also appears as a recurring judge on Iron Chef.
Recognition
Since 2007, Nilou Motamed has been a panelist for the James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards. She has been featured in The New York Times. AdWeek also named her one of the "30 Most Influential People in Food."
Personal Life
Nilou Motamed met her husband, Peter Jon Lindberg, in 2000. He is also a magazine journalist. They met while both working at Travel + Leisure magazine.
