New York’s only Indian restaurant with a Michelin star earns badge of honour again | Trending

Dec 10, 2024 11:58 AM Semma, Chef Vijaya Kumar’s South Indian restaurant in New York, retains its Michelin star for another year. Chef Vijaya Kumar’s Michelin star winning South Indian restaurant Semma in New York city has retained the badge of honour for another year in an extraordinary feat highlighting the power of Indian cuisine. To earn and retain a Michelin star, considered the hallmark of culinary excellence, a restaurant must consently deliver exceptional food, service and ambiance. The menu at Semma, which translates to ‘awesome’, as a Chettinad diner features dishes from Chef Vijaya Kumar’s childhood(LinkedIn/VijayaKumar, semmanyc.com) Food critic Vir Sanghvi took to X to congratulate the chef and his team. “Congratulations to the amazing Chef Vijay for retaining his Michelin star for Semma in New York. Congratulations also to Chintan Pandya & Roni Mazumdar who run the group behind Semma,” he wrote. All about SemmaChef Vijaya Kumar was born and raised in Natham, a small town in Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul. He enrolled in a culinary school in Tiruchy and graduated in 2001. He ran two restaurants in San Francisco called Dosa and Rasa. The latter received a Michelin Star before it was closed in 2015. He collaborated with Roni Mazumdar and Chintan Pandya of Unapologetic Foods.Vijaya Kumar was instantly from Unapologetic Foods and worked to open a restaurant that sells authentic south Indian food which was not toned down for the New York crowd. The menu at Semma, which translates to ‘awesome’, as a Chettinad diner features dishes from Kumar’s childhood focusing on the micro-regional cuisines of Tamil Nadu. The restaurant received its first Michelin star within a year of being opened. “My grandmother lived in a remote area near Natham. People used to cook and eat nathai there, which many in the urban landscape find absurd. During my vacations, we used to sit in paddy fields and relish the flavourful nathai pirattal, enjoying the picturesque view,” he had told DTNext in an interview. (Also read: Chef Vikas Khanna reveals how New York is treating his Indian eatery 8 months in: ‘To be sold out in…’) The popular restaurant offers delicacies like Naithai Pirattal (snail curry) and Kudal Varuval (goat’s intestines) which are not considered a part of mainstream south Indian cuisine. Get Latest Updates on… See more News / Trending / New York’s only Indian restaurant with a Michelin star earns badge of honour again