Aarti Sequeira and Melissa d'Arabian, the past two winners of The Next Food Network Star

Fans who took advantage of the VIP travel package for the Food Network New York City Wine and Food Festival earlier this month were treated to a special VIP tour of the Food Network Kitchens and a cocktail party with two of Food Network’s brightest stars, Melissa d’Arabian and Aarti Sequeira. Read more »

Cupcake Wars' Candace Nelson; Aarti Sequeira from Aarti Party; Marcela Valladolid, host of Mexican Made Easy; Maile Carpenter, Editor in Chief of Food Network Magazine; Sunny Anderson, host of Cooking for Real and Vicky Wellington, publisher of Food Network Magazine

The stars are all in town for the New York City Wine and Food Festival, and several of them stopped by Food Network Magazine’s lounge party on Wednesday night at Thalassa restaurant. Sunny Anderson, Candace Nelson, Marcela Valladolid, Aarti Sequeira and Melissa d’Arabian all came by, and party-goers drank champagne and snacked on panini inspired by the October issue’s 50 panini booklet, as well as cupcakes decorated with the magazine’s logo.

Sweet party treats

To celebrate the magazine’s second anniversary, we asked the stars about their favorite features in the mag:
Marcela’s favorite section of the magazine is He Made/She Made, where two chefs each put their own spin on a favorite dish (Marcela and Chris Cosentino battled over nachos in this month’s issue). If she were throwing a similar cook-off, Marcela says she would pit Bobby Flay against Ming Tsai to see who makes the best traditional Mexican mole sauce.

Melissa d'Arabian, host of Ten Dollar Dinners, and Marcela Valladolid, host of Mexican Made Easy

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Be the first to watch Melissa on the set of her new show, Ten Dollar Dinners with Melissa d’Arabian.

Watch what Jeffrey and Melissa had to say directly after the confetti fell on The Next Food Network Star finale set.