29 June,2025 07:51 AM IST | Mumbai | Nasrin Modak Siddiqi
(From left) Restaurateur Roni Mazumdar, chef Vijay Kumar and restaurateur Chintan Pandya — the team behind Semma. Pic/Erin Lettera
In the small town of Natham in Tamil Nadu, Vijay Kumar grew up in a modest home without electricity or buses - just the rhythms of rural life. Summers were about foraging for snails, fishing in ponds, and watching his grandmother cook over a wood fire. Those early memories - snail curry in clay pots, hand-ground spices - continue to shape the food he cooks today.
Although he once aspired to be an engineer, financial constraints led him to attend a hotel management school. From Chennai's Taj Connemara to cruise ships and eventually the US, Vijay climbed the culinary ladder - training at Dosa in San Francisco and earning a Michelin star for Rasa in 2016.
Still, he longed to return to his roots. That came with Semma, launched in 2021 with Unapologetic Foods in Manhattan's West Village. Here, Vijay cooks without compromise, serving bold, deeply personal dishes from rural Tamil Nadu: snail curry (nathai pirattal), goat intestines, deer shank, and more.
Within a year, Semma earned a Michelin star - the only Indian restaurant in the US to hold one (2022-2024). In June 2025, it was named The New York Times' No. 1 restaurant, and just weeks later, Vijay became the first Tamil-born chef to win Best Chef: New York State at the James Beard Awards.
Semma - Tamil slang for fantastic, superb, excellent - lives up to its name in every way.
Sunday mid-day spoke to the men behind the brand - Roni Mazumdar (Founder and CEO, Unapologetic Foods) Chintan Pandya (Executive Chef and Partner, Unapologetic Foods ) and Vijay Kumar, Executive Chef, Semma.
Excerpts from an interview.
What strategic decisions have you taken - in terms of location, or positioning - that contributed to Semma's success?
Roni Mazumdar: I wish I could say it was all strategy - but Semma wasn't born from spreadsheets or business models. It came from something more profound: the soul of the cuisine and the authenticity of the chef. There was no precedent for what we were doing - no consultant would have advised us to lead with unapologetically regional Indian food. It wasn't about picking the correct location or maximising revenue. It was about leaning into who we are, even when the world told us our food wasn't worthy of the world stage. I grew up internalising those stigmas - that village food wasn't "fine dining" and that our cuisine had to be adapted to be accepted. But with each step - first Adda, then Dhamaka - we gained confidence. And when we met Chef Vijay, we knew his food wasn't just delicious - it was honest. Semma's success wasn't about strategy. It was about breaking the rules, reclaiming our story, and being the truest version of ourselves.
What sets Semma apart in terms of culinary execution - from sourcing to technique - that resonates with both diners and award juries?
Chintan Pandya: What sets Semma apart is one word: honesty. The food Chef Vijay creates stems from a place of deep integrity - of ingredients, technique, and memory. He's not recreating someone else's cuisine; he's cooking what he grew up with. That authenticity is impossible to fake.
You can find chefs who are more technically skilled, but not many who bring the same emotions to the plate. Every dish at Semma reflects Vijay's lived experience - dishes that shaped his childhood. That's why it resonates.
Chef Vijay Kumar: The freedom I've had here is everything. Many restaurants are built for business, but Roni and Chintan gave me the space - and the guts - to cook food from my past: intestines, snails, dishes from small villages. Without that trust and encouragement, Semma wouldn't exist. They say it's me, but really, it's all of us together.
What have been your biggest challenges in staying authentic while appealing to a diverse NYC audience?
Chef Vijay Kumar: The biggest challenge, especially early on, was perception - many people, including Indians, think South Indian food begins and ends with idli and dosa. When they saw snails or goat intestines on the menu, there was pushback, even confusion. Some wondered if we were trying to impress Western diners with shock value.
But I had to explain: this isn't a gimmick - this is the food I grew up eating in rural Tamil Nadu. Many Indians here and even in India have only experienced urban food cultures. They haven't seen the richness of rural food traditions that still thrive across villages. Once people understood that - and tasted the food - they saw the soul in it. It opened their eyes to a part of India they hadn't encountered. It took time, but now they recognise it for what it is: honest, rooted, and real.
How does the recent recognition ofâ¯Semmaâ¯and Chef Vijay Kumar influence your internal benchmarks for future projects under Unapologetic Foods?
Chintan Pandya: It was never about setting external benchmarks - it's always been about outdoing ourselves. What Vijay has achieved with Semma is unprecedented, but more importantly, it's become a source of belief - not just within our team, but across the industry.
We've had people from other restaurants reach out and say, "This gives us hope." It's no longer seen as a fluke or a one-off moment. Vijay has proven that authentic, rooted, ethnic food can stand shoulder to shoulder with any global fine dining. That changes everything. The impact is bigger than awards - it's empowerment. Over the next decade, I believe we'll see a decisive shift where more chefs lean into their heritage, and Vijay's journey will be the spark that inspires many to believe it is possible.
Many chefs struggle with translating hyperlocal traditions into a fine dining context. How did you navigate that at Semma - especially with lesser-known ingredients or dishes?
Chef Vijay Kumar: Chintan paved the way. With Dhamaka, he showed us that bold, rooted food has a place on the big stage. At first, sourcing was a challenge - especially with ingredients that aren't widely available here. For instance, we made numerous calls to obtain the right Alphonso mangoes from India for a seasonal dessert. But when diners tasted it and said, "This took me straight back to home," we knew the effort was worth it.
Chintan Pandya: To support that level of integrity, we've built a system within our company - there are people whose sole job is ingredient sourcing. Whether it's a specific cut of meat, a rare spice, or something like feni for the bar menu, we'll go the extra mile to get it.
Roni Mazumdar: People think dishes like snails or goat intestines are there to shock. But at Semma, they're not statements - they're stories. And quality is non-negotiable. The snails, for instance, come from Peconic - among the best in the country. It's not about being provocative; it's about serving life on a plate with care and integrity.
How does Semma's recognition impact your larger vision for Indian cuisine in the US restaurant scene, especially in terms of investor confidence and expansion potential?
Roni Mazumdar: It's like rocket fuel. Until now, no one believed Indian restaurants could draw lines around the block. We were used to walking in on a Friday night with no wait. Semma changes that - it shifts how people view the economics of Indian food.
Think of it like going from indie film to blockbuster. Investors used to cap expectations. Now, Semma shows that regional Indian cuisine can drive demand and shape culture.
It also reframes the narrative. For too long, "Indian food" meant a narrow, often inauthentic version of North Indian fare. But India isn't one cuisine. South Indian, Gujarati, Bengali, Northeast - it all belongs. Semma proves those stories not only matter - they can lead.
Chintan Pandya: We're finally getting a seat at the table - and for one of the world's oldest cuisines, that's long overdue. Semma's recognition, and Vijay's, doesn't just spotlight us - it honours those before us who never got the chance. Indian food didn't arrive yesterday. So why did it take this long?
What's changed is confidence. That's the real currency - not money or fame. And that belief is spreading. Chefs from other underrepresented cuisines - Vietnamese, Thai, and more - now say, "Maybe I can do this too."
In an industry where trends come and go, how do you see Semma's intensely regional, rooted approach reshaping perceptions of Indian food among chefs and peers?
Chintan Pandya: Let's be clear - Semma isn't a trend. What Chef Vijay is cooking isn't new or experimental. These are time-honoured dishes, passed down through generations and cooked the same way in villages across Tamil Nadu. This is rooted food - not a reinvention or gimmick.
Trends come and go - boba tea today, sushi tacos tomorrow. Semma brings class. As they say in cricket, "Form is temporary, class is permanent."
This isn't about chasing what's cool. It's about integrity, tradition, and excellence. Semma is here to stay - and as it grows, it's changing how Indian food is seen, both in kitchens and at the table.
Your outfit was praised for its cultural pride. Do you see it as a statement beyond the culinary?
Chef Vijay Kumar: For me, it was all about representation. We're already representing our food - so why not represent our culture too? Everyone wears a tuxedo to these events, but that's not who I am. This is our traditional dress, what we wear for special occasions back home. It felt only right to wear it on a stage like that.
Wearing it gave me a sense of dignity and pride - this is my food, my story, my identity. Why should I have to dress a certain way just to fit in? I didn't want to wear something for someone else. I wanted to wear what meant something to me.
Roni Mazumdar: We're done trying to fit in.
