Semma.

Semma

Vijay Kumar grew up on a rice farm outside Madurai and cooks Tamil Nadu food on Greenwich Avenue. The gunpowder dosa comes off the griddle amber-brown and no thicker than a potato chip. It holds one MICHELIN star in the 2025 guide. Ligaya Mishan put it inside the top ten of her hundred best New York restaurants in May 2026.

Why go

Pete Wells reviewed it in January 2022 and made it a Critic's Pick. What he could not get over was that dosa. A griddled crust sits over a spongy interior, and a ground-chile blend runs heat through the potato masala.

Kumar's nathai pirattal is snails stir-fried with onion and tomato, soured with tamarind and served in a small box of banana leaves. Wells called it one of two dishes from his childhood you would struggle to find at another New York restaurant. The Chettinad venison shank braises with star anise and black stone flower, a lichen Chettinad cooks prize as a seasoning. Kudal varuval is a dry curry of goat intestine. Wells found the texture gently firm, closer to mortadella than to offal.

Kumar's group is called Unapologetic Foods and the servers wear it on their shirts. Roni Mazumdar owns it and Chintan Pandya is corporate chef. Dhamaka on Delancey Street is the sibling Mishan files as the feisty little brother, built on viscera and high heat.

Order this / avoid

• Order: the snails or the venison, whichever is on.
• Order: mulaikattiya thaniyam to start. It is sprouted mung beans with coconut and smoked chili, and the guide files it as Kumar's own childhood snack.
• Avoid: counting on a cup of tea at the end. Wells asked and did not get one.

What locals & experts say

• Vijay Kumar, to Pete Wells in the Times, January 2022: we are completely focusing on true southern Indian food, exactly how we grew up eating it back home.1
• Ligaya Mishan, The New York Times, May 2026: Kumar brings the memories of that farm to the table in dishes with tricky textures and profuse chiles, insisting that refinement should never require the sacrifice of boldness or principles.2
• The MICHELIN inspector: This is authentic Indian cooking that doesn't pander to American expectations.3

Good to know

• Where: 60 Greenwich Avenue, in the space that was Rahi.
• Getting in: book. The room is not large.

Verdict

must-visit — Order wine with this food. Wells called the list an afterthought at the two sibling rooms and purposeful at Semma. Semma is the roomiest and priciest of the three, built for a long, comfortable night.