Vijaya Kumar or Vijay Kumar, the rising star on the firmament of Indian cuisine in the United States, won ‘Best Chef: New York State’, in the prestigious list of the James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards. His current restaurant Semma, which is Tamil for “awesome” or “fantastic” might almost be eponymous. Semma was launched by Kumar and his friends Roni Mazumdar and Chintan Pandya, partners at Unapologetic Foods
The James Beard Foundation winners were announced June 16, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The young Chef who hails from a village in Tamil Nadu gets accolades galore for his authentic, grassroots dishes that have already gained his restaurant the Michelin star in 2022 and 2023. Dishes like nathai pirattal (snail curry), or Kudal varuval (goat’s intestines)- that once may have been seen as poor man’s food back home among Tamilians, now attracts Tamils in New York and customers across the board to his restaurant.
His much-talked about dish of snails – which he collected in childhood with his mother and grandmother, and learnt to cook, came way before he studied French cuisine (which would have included the prized ‘escargot’) at the State Institute of Hotel Management in Tiruchirappalli.
His acceptance speech at the James Beard awards event, reflects his upbringing and his humility. “There’s no such thing as a poor person’s food or rich person’s food. It’s food. It’s powerful. And the real luxury is to be able to connect with each other around the dinner table. Tonight, Indian cuisine stands tall, Tamil food stands tall, my own food and heritage stand tall, and it all matters. I stand here for everyone who never thought their story belonged to be on a stage like this.”
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In his stirring acceptance speech that went viral on social media, Kumar said ““When I started cooking, I never thought a dark-skinned boy from Tamil Nadu would make it to a room like this. But the food I grew up on food made with care, with fire, with soul, is now taking the main stage.”
Finedininglovers.com, notes in Kumar’s biography, how the Executive chef and co-owner of Semma, the Michelin-starred restaurant in Greenwich Village, is the haunt where Kumar serves ‘unapologetic’ Southern Indian cuisine.
“His early experiences of hunting deer and foraging for snails at his grandparents’ farm and cooking the results over an open fire inspired him to attend culinary school and have reemerged in his menus at Semma,” finedininglovers.com says.
Chef Kumar came to New York in 2021, after having worked in California for 12 years at Burlingame’s Michelin-starred restaurant Rasa.
After graduating from the State Institute of Hotel Management in Tamil Nadu, Kumar joined Taj Connemara in Chennai where he worked on a cruise liner for three years. “… creativity took a back seat to precision and efficiency,” at that job, noted finedininglovers.com
He moved after that experience to the US, where he worked first at Dosa in San Francisco, and then at Rasa, the latter serving modern versions of traditional dishes.
Unlike Rasa, the food at Semma delivers the real thing – no holding back on spices used when he was growing up. The Michelin Guide describes Semma’s dishes as “Indian cooking that doesn’t pander to American expectations,” notes finedininglovers.com.
Born and raised in Natham, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, Kumar who wanted to study engineering, but switched to hotel management when his parents could not afford an engineering education, notes thenewsmedium.com.
In a post on threads.com, Chef Kumar says, “Every dish we create is a celebration of Tamil nadu – the vibrant, soulful village where I grew up – along with other South Indian delicious dishes. As a chef, I share my humble roots through its extraordinary culinary traditions.”
This is the first time that a Tamil-origin chef has won the James Beard award, another feather in his cap.
The above photo was posted by Kumar, with a post which says – “Still trying to find the right words, because never in my life did I think something like this could happen… that a kid from the small town of Tamil Nadu could one day be standing here, lifted up by his team, at the NUMBER ONE restaurant in New York City.
This moment belongs to all of us at @semmanyc .To every cook, every server, every porter and the entire crew of Semma who showed up day in and day out, working tirelessly to bring this all to life. To chef @natesan_suresh and @cortez_c_e , whose quiet strength and daily commitment make the impossible possible🙏🏽.And to every guest who took a chance on Southern Indian food, not just as something to try, but something to feel deeply. What we’re doing at Semma hasn’t been done before, not like this. We’re celebrating the fire and the soul of Southern Indian cooking in a city that has never quite seen it this way, and we’re doing it loudly.
Thank you @priyakrishna @clarkbar , Brian Gallagher, @nytimes , @nytcooking 🙏🏽. Thank you to @chefchintan, whose belief in me changed everything. And to @roni.mazumdar and the entire @unapologeticfoodsnyc family 🙏🏾for daring to tell stories that others wouldn’t and letting me tell mine. And thank you to the team that reminds me every day that food is love, and love is a team sport🙏🏽. I can’t believe I get to be on this journey with you all.🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾”