New York: Chef Vijaya Kumar’s Michelin star winning South Indian food serving restaurant Semma in New York City has retained the badge of honor 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, understandably, a restaurant must consistently deliver exceptional food, service and ambiance.
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.
Chef 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 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.
