Semma is the brainchild of Indian-born chef Vijay Kumar and his partners at Unapologetic Foods, who together realized in 2021 that New York City had no restaurant specializing in authentic Southern Indian cuisine. Located in Manhattan’s West Village, Semma is their solution, serving the kind of food Kumar enjoyed while growing up in Tamil Nadu in the south of the sub-continent. He prepares each dish just as he remembers it, without any toning down or tampering to suit American tastes. It’s personal, regional, and unapologetically Indian. Contrary to Kumar’s initial worries, this approach has been welcomed by an audience hungry for authenticity and not afraid of the spiciness or simply the otherness of what was once considered ‘poor people’s cuisine.’

The heart of Semma

The colorful design and vibrant atmosphere of the space itself helps prepare guests for the explosion of flavor that awaits them. The long dining room is decorated with paintings of banana palm trees that bathe the place in greenery, the woven mats that cover the ceiling recall houseboats in Kerala, and the chairs are of a design that is iconic in Southern India. The desired effect of all this is to represent India in all its brilliant vitality, transporting diners there before they have even tasted their first mouthful.

Executive Chef Kumar was raised in Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state in India, where he developed a taste for cooking while helping his mother in the kitchen and on their frequent trips to his grandparent’s remote farm. The memories he cherishes from these trips include hunting for deer, foraging for snails, and cooking in mud pots over an open fire. So, when his desire to study engineering proved unachievable on financial grounds, Kumar was happy to opt instead for a culinary education at the State Institute of Hotel Management in Tiruchirappalli. On graduating, he found work at the Taj Connemara in Chennai, where he spent three years before embarking, literally, on a three-year stint on a cruise ship. Next, seeking the opportunity for greater independence and creativity, he moved to the US. Based initially in California, he spent six years in a restaurant called Dosa in San Francisco, before moving to Rasa in Burlingame, where—as Chef de Cuisine—he prepared Indian cuisine with a Californian twist, overseeing the restaurant’s receipt and retention of a Michelin star.

It was in 2021, following conversations with industry friends Roni Mazumdar and Chintan Pandya of Unapologetic Foods, that Kumar decided to transfer to the East Coast to run Semma in NYC, with the aim of recreating, as authentically as possible, the home cooking of his childhood in Southern India.

Semma was listed by The Infatuation as one of New York City’s Best New Restaurants of 2021, appearing the same year in Bon Appetit’s list of Best Restaurant Meals, according to staffers. The following year, it received its first Michelin star, which it retained in 2023. In 2024, Semma took seventh place in the New York Times list of the 100 Best Restaurants in New York City.

The Chef

Kumar grew up in India’s southernmost state, Tamil Nadu, and enjoyed regular visits to his grandparents’ farm deep in the countryside. Here he would hunt deer and forage for snails, which they would then cook in mud pots with fresh spices. These experiences still inform his cooking today, and he cites his mother and grandmother as his first culinary inspirations.

Kumar pursued his interest in cooking by enrolling at the State Institute of Hotel Management in Tiruchirappalli, where he learned classic French techniques, before beginning his career with three years at the Taj Connemara in the state capital Chennai. He then spent another three years working on a cruise liner, where creativity took a back seat to precision and efficiency.

Following this experience, Kumar moved to the US to pursue his American dream. It began in California, where he worked first at Dosa in San Francisco then at Rasa in Burlingame. During his time there, Rasa was named The Bay Area’s Best Indian Restaurant by the San Francisco Chronicle. It earned a Michelin star in 2016 and subsequently retained it, a feat Kumar has since successfully repeated at Semma, the NYC restaurant he crossed the US to open in 2021.

Restaurant

Located in Manhattan’s West Village, Semma is externally unassuming—its simple, whitewashed walls betray little of the vibrancy that lies within—but immediately inviting once inside, thanks to its long bar, colorful artwork, and ceiling decorated with woven mats.

Taking its name from a Tamil word meaning ‘awesome’ or ‘fantastic,’ Semma serves authentic Southern Indian home cooking. It describes its approach as personal, regional and ‘unapologetically Indian,’ as one would expect from a restaurant launched by the Unapologetic Foods team of which Kumar and his friends Roni Mazumdar and Chintan Pandya are partners.

Despite Kumar’s initial anxiety about the appeal of his childhood fare to modern-day New Yorkers, the restaurant has gone from strength to strength.

Semma received a Michelin star in 2022 and retained it in 2023. It is currently one of only a handful of Indian restaurants in the US to hold this honor. Reviews in the press, meanwhile, have generally been as hot as the cooking, from a mention in The Infatuation’s list of New York City’s Best New Restaurants of 2021 to reaching seventh place in The New York Times’ 100 Best Restaurants in New York City in 2024.

Recipes and dishes

The menu at Semma is inspired by the food Kumar ate as a child and showcases the dishes he used to help his mother prepare while growing up in Tamil Nadu. Unlike the elevated Indian cuisine he used to serve at Rasa—a modern interpretation of traditional dishes, adapted to suit Californian ingredients and tastes—Semma’s food is true to his childhood memories, complete with liberal quantities of spices. Even the ponni rice that features on the menu is a variety his family still grows today. The Michelin Guide describes Semma’s cuisine as “Indian cooking that doesn't pander to American expectations.” While dishes like nathai pirattal (snail curry) and kudal varuval (goat's intestines) were considered 'poor people's food' during Kumar’s youth, they have proved a huge success both with NYC’s southern Indian population and with countless other diners.

Among its most popular dishes is the gunpowder dosa, Kumar’s take on the classic masala dosa, a humble rice and lentil crepe filled with potato. His version is doused with ghee and sprinkled with a peppery spice (the ‘gunpowder’ in the name), and the masala is served with two chutneys and a unique sambar (vegetable stew) made with 50 different ingredients.

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