“Semma is a South Indian restaurant where we focus on regional Southern Indian cuisine, mostly from Tamil Nadu where I grew up eating.” Today, Bon Appétit spends a day on the line with Chef Vijay Kumar, executive chef at Semma, NYC’s only Michelin Star Indian restaurant.
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00:00Sema is the only Indian restaurant that has a Michelin star in New York City.
00:06Sema is a South Indian restaurant where we focus on regional Southern Indian cuisine,
00:12mostly from Tamil Nadu, where I grew up eating.
00:15As an executive chef, we also have such a huge responsibility
00:19to represent the Indian culture and cuisine, which we enjoy.
00:31Hello. Good afternoon. Welcome to Sema.
00:34This is Vijay. I'm the executive chef, partner at Sema.
00:37This is 12.30. Let's see what's happening in the kitchen.
00:40Come on in. Follow me.
00:47So we open for service at 5, and then we already have a couple of prep chefs
00:51who started the day, who received all the ingredients,
00:53who checked the quality, who started prepping for the whole day.
00:56All right. I'm going to be changing and be back. Bye.
01:01All right. Ready. Let's go see the prep chef.
01:05This is Seth Suresh. Nice to meet you.
01:07So we've known each other for 25 years. We went to college together.
01:10He's my childhood buddy. He's the one who does all the cooking,
01:13making all the sauces, curries.
01:15Since it's our food, we grew up eating it, I don't need to go and check everything,
01:19like, hey, how it is. I don't need to check all the qualities,
01:22because he takes care of everything. So I'm so blessed to have him in the kitchen.
01:25Each time I'm preparing four, five dishes at the same time.
01:29So once this batch is done, he'll be making, like, another batch,
01:32then we keep making till, like, 4.30, till the service starts.
01:36We don't use anything for the next day, because we make everything from scratch,
01:39just for the day. What he does is he just cooks every single dish for the whole day.
01:44Because he's very talented, that's why he's making five things at the same time.
01:48When you make four, five things at the same time, you get things done quickly.
01:52And also it's challenging, because you have to keep an eye on everything,
01:55not getting burnt anything, to make sure that you maintain all the quality and consistency.
02:00Our concept is unapologetic food, so we just like to cook how we cook back home.
02:04I don't think we modify, we don't really try to turn down any spices,
02:08we just cook how we cook back home, except the quantity is big.
02:11Seems like Chef Suresh is keeping everything under control,
02:14so I don't think I need to be here, so he got it.
02:17We get booked every single night.
02:19As soon as we open the reservation, we get booked like two weeks in advance.
02:22On top of what we get booked, we do have about 1,000 to 1,400 people on the notify list to get in.
02:29So we do a free seating, so like five, seven, nine, so we do about 230 covers a night.
02:36This is our KDS, which is a kitchen display screen.
02:39What we do is, we have certain dishes you have to fill up,
02:43so I just go to the system, I let the chef know how many they have to prepare every day.
02:47I do track every single day how many dishes we've been selling.
02:51That way I can give them exact quantity that they can prepare for a day,
02:54so we don't waste it another day.
02:56I'm doing it right here in the kitchen, so I can interact with the chefs too,
02:59to make sure they have enough quantity that I'm putting in the system.
03:03Let's say if I put in 10 dishes, I'm going to have a total of 20 dishes.
03:07I do it to make sure they have enough quantity that I'm putting in the system.
03:11Let's say if I put in 10 lobsters, and then they have only 5 lobsters, that doesn't make sense.
03:16So I'll make sure I stay in the kitchen, I'll interact with them,
03:19make sure they have the right amount of quantity that they have in the kitchen before I put it in the system.
03:23Once it's done, what I do, I just take a picture, I send it to all the chefs,
03:28so they know exactly how many to be made every day.
03:30It looks great! The next thing we're going to do is, we're going to move on to the cooking section.
03:38Alright, it's 3pm. Everybody's in the kitchen right now.
03:41This is our dish pit, where all the dishes are being cleaned.
03:44And that's Chef Sebastian, he's prepping his seafood.
03:48He's prepping his lobster and everything.
03:50So they're all prepping their own section.
03:52And then here it is, I think the chef...
03:54What are you making here, Marcus?
03:56It's called raita, it's a side dish, which has yogurt, cucumber, and chopped onions.
04:00Can I taste it? Alright.
04:02Part of my job as an executive chef is, I have to make sure I taste everything.
04:06Everything is up to standard.
04:08Mmm. Very good.
04:10Look at the consistency.
04:12It shouldn't be too watery, it shouldn't be too thick.
04:14This is the right, perfect consistency for raita.
04:17I mean, our raita. Everybody has their own raita, but this is how raita is supposed to be.
04:21Very good. Thank you.
04:23So right here, these two gentlemen, they're making potato masala for the gunpowder dosa.
04:28This is the boiled potatoes, they're just peeling it right now.
04:30Once it's peeled, they're going to mix it with all the spice mixture that goes into the gunpowder dosa.
04:35I think they like to use their bare hands with the glasses, because that's much more efficient than using a peeler or whatever it is.
04:42I don't worry too much, because I know my team, but my team, they always crush it, they nail it.
04:47They do the best job they can do.
04:49But just to make sure, to double check it, triple check it,
04:53because we want to make sure every single guest has the best experience possible.
04:57The majority of our dishes are very labor-intensive.
05:00For example, a dosa takes three days to just prep it.
05:03Just like that, every single dish has a lot, a lot of prep to do.
05:06So it takes about two to three days to make one single dish.
05:09Can I say one thing? I was going to say all those guys.
05:12For me, I believe in people who work really hard, who have a dedication and passion.
05:17So as you can see, all these gentlemen, they started as a dishwasher like two years ago.
05:23I saw the hunger in their eyes, how they want to learn and grow.
05:26So as you can see, they are working the line right now.
05:29He makes all the pastries.
05:31He does all this expediting when I'm not there.
05:34And he does all the prep for the whole section.
05:37That makes me very happy that I was able to work with them.
05:41Even though they were the dishwasher, I was able to give them a chance,
05:43and they feel so appreciated.
05:46For the next one hour, I'll be checking every single section
05:50to make sure that everything's been prepared to our standard,
05:54and that they all tasted great.
06:00It's 4 p.m. now.
06:02As you can see, the kitchen is so chaos,
06:04because we have one more hour to open the service.
06:06Dosa, we call it gunpowder dosa.
06:09It's one of our most signature dishes on the menu.
06:11We sell about at least 150 dosas a day.
06:15Every single one gets dosa, just so you know.
06:19All right, so I'm just going to be making dosas.
06:22We just have to season the griddle before you make dosas.
06:25You have to make sure it's on the right temperature.
06:27If it is too low or if it is too high,
06:29you're not able to get the right color or the right consistency.
06:32As you can see, I have a three-round side,
06:35so that's how you make dosa, because that has the right amount of temperature.
06:39Sprinkle some ghee a little bit right here
06:41to make sure nothing gets stuck in the griddle.
06:43It should have some kind of greasiness.
06:45Also, you have to make sure you don't put too much ghee.
06:47When you put too much ghee, you don't get the texture.
06:51You have to spread them equally, that's it.
06:53Otherwise, it'll be so thick on one side,
06:55it'll be very crispy on the other side, so it has to be spread equally.
06:58Because when you put the lentils, all the lentils will absorb all the ghee from there.
07:02So they'll be so dry, so you have to make sure you have enough ghee in it.
07:09All right.
07:10I'm back.
07:12There you go.
07:14You're welcome.
07:15All right, let's go.
07:21All right, it's 4.30 now.
07:22It's time for pre-shift, so we're all going to cuddle together
07:25and talk about what you have in the book, like how many reservations,
07:28what are the diet restrictions, who are the VIPs, all those details.
07:33Tonight, we have 174 covers.
07:35We have a pretty extensive first round at 5 o'clock.
07:39A lot of tables are coming in.
07:41We have a couple dietary restrictions tonight.
07:44We have four cups per order, none to sell.
07:47That's pretty much it for tonight.
07:49You guys have been crushing it, as always.
07:51I don't have to repeat this every single day.
07:53Came with the good work, that's it.
07:55Amazing.
07:56Let's rock and roll.
08:03All right, it's 4.55 now.
08:05We have like five minutes to open the doors.
08:07So this is the expo station.
08:09We're just kind of setting it up.
08:10So you'll get all the tickets right here.
08:12They also get a printed version of copies,
08:14so I can also see all the tickets that we have here.
08:18So it kind of gives me an idea.
08:19If something takes more than 15, 20 minutes,
08:21so I can see on the screen how long the ticket has been there.
08:25So either we can go ask them to expedite as quick as possible,
08:28or if something goes wrong, something's not right,
08:31for some reason the dish is not executed in a timely way,
08:34we can go speak to the guests for some reason, you know?
08:39No, they're just behaving.
08:44I'm just warming up the plates before service.
08:47Can you heat it up some more?
08:50The food has to go hot,
08:51so you have to make sure the plate has to be hot
08:53in order to maintain the temperature of the food.
08:55All right, it's 5.10 now.
08:57I'm just going to go upstairs, take a look
08:59how many guests have been seated so far.
09:01So it gives me an idea for the cooks,
09:03like, you know, how much they can prepare,
09:04like how many tickets are going to come in.
09:06I can already see like almost,
09:08like 50 people in the dining room got filled up in 10 minutes.
09:12How are you? Welcome. How are you?
09:15Is this your first time, or have you all been here before?
09:17I've been here before.
09:18Oh, thanks for taking all of them here.
09:21We're very excited.
09:22Thank you, I hope you enjoy it.
09:26Just a quick heads up,
09:27almost like 50 to 60 percent of the dining room
09:29got filled up already,
09:30so we're going to get hot in like 15, 20 minutes,
09:33so get ready.
09:37All right, this is our first ticket.
09:38It's 5.15.
09:40We have a gunpura dosa and the lamb,
09:42which is our auto-carriage tukka.
09:47Nice. All right.
09:48One for beetroot, one for 101.
09:50Beetroot, 101.
09:51Yes, sir. Thank you.
09:52Sometimes it looks dry,
09:53because of all the gunpura,
09:54so I want to make it a little more, you know,
09:56fresh and ghee-like.
09:57All right, guys, thank you.
09:583.05, please.
09:593.05.
10:01All right, we've got our second ticket now.
10:02It's 3.05.
10:03Moonbeam, please.
10:06Jose, 3.05 paneer.
10:08So, we have like four gentlemen, men in black,
10:11right here, beautifully dressed,
10:12including Francisco.
10:13We call him Papa.
10:14Papa's the seen-most guy in the kitchen.
10:16So, all four of the gentlemen,
10:18we call them food runners.
10:20They are the one who takes all our food,
10:22like, so hard,
10:23like, piping hot to the table
10:24that they literally run to the table
10:26from kitchen to table.
10:27That's why they're called food runners.
10:29They take turns.
10:30They fight sometimes.
10:31Yeah.
10:33Okay, so the lamb, 104, right?
10:36Two or six lamb.
10:37Let's say we have 10 prawns, right?
10:39Like, we have like 10, 15 prawns at the same time.
10:41So, instead of going the KDS one by one,
10:43I'll write on a paper.
10:44Sometimes they make all the six,
10:46seven ordered prawns at the same time.
10:48I'll just give the paper to them
10:49so they know exactly what table they have to go.
10:51Yeah.
10:52When we design the menu,
10:53I also want to make them feel like eating at home, right?
10:58That looks beautiful.
10:593.05, please.
11:01So, so many food has been plated in the...
11:05wooden plates.
11:06Because, you know, I grew up in a farmer family,
11:08like, you know, grew up in such a small farm.
11:10We used to eat food like the banana leaves
11:12and, like, wooden plates and bamboo leaves
11:14and stuff like that, right?
11:15So, I just wanted to bring back the same exact memory
11:18how I grew up eating it.
11:19So, that was the idea.
11:21Do you know the table number?
11:22202, sir.
11:23Yeah.
11:24You can see the screen get filled out,
11:25like, to the second bed,
11:26and that's when I'm really busy.
11:27Like, no, then we are, like, super busy.
11:30This dosa, even he told me not to give it to us,
11:32give it to the guest,
11:33because, you know, it's slightly darker than usually.
11:35So, this is the right color,
11:36but this is a little too dark,
11:37so we're not serving this.
11:38So, this either goes to family,
11:39or we might discard it.
11:40It is a loss of money, yes,
11:42but we also take a pride.
11:44We want to make sure that
11:45we give the best food to our guests.
11:48How many seats at the bar got filled up?
11:50How many?
11:51Almost, almost everything, sir.
11:52Everything, bar got filled up?
11:53Yeah, yeah.
11:54This is called...
11:55This is the snail dish.
11:57So, this is something that my grandma used to make it.
11:59Every time we used to go visit her
12:01during the school holidays,
12:02we used to help her in, like,
12:03foraging snails at a rice paddy farm.
12:06So, she used to take us for, like,
12:08hunting, snail foraging,
12:10all those things, right?
12:11Like, fishing.
12:12So, this is something we used to
12:14help my grandmother foraging snails.
12:16Once the snail is foraged,
12:18she used to cook them at the open fire
12:20in a mud form,
12:21and then we used to eat them
12:22in a banana leaf,
12:23literally in the middle of rice paddy farm.
12:24So, this is something we just want to replicate
12:27exactly how my grandma used to make it.
12:29All right?
12:31Just for the shoot, please.
12:33Is all the table got filled up?
12:34It's 5.40.
12:35Yeah, chef.
12:36Oh, yeah.
12:37It's picking up now.
12:38You can see the heat.
12:40Great.
12:42Can you clean this up a little bit?
12:43All right.
12:44This is the...
12:45We call it Ullavar Sundae Poriyal,
12:47which is seasonal poriyal.
12:48Ullavar Sundae means, like,
12:49farmer's market in Tamil.
12:51It's a very simple, very humble dish
12:53that is made with fresh coconut
12:55and all the seasonal vegetables
12:57assorted with fresh coconuts.
12:59We are using red beets, golden beets,
13:01and butternut squash,
13:02and mustard seeds.
13:04Guys, can you put some more floras?
13:05Floras, floras, floras.
13:06Emily.
13:07Yeah?
13:08This goes to 2.02, please.
13:09Two poriyal for 2.02.
13:102.02 for two.
13:11We have a rule that we have to repeat each other.
13:13We just want to make sure we're on the same page.
13:15We want to make sure they hear me properly,
13:17and I want to make sure I hear them properly
13:19to make sure we have effective communication,
13:21that we don't make mistakes.
13:22Usually, the server takes care of the pacing
13:25because they coordinate with the guest.
13:27They ask the guest, like,
13:29or they give the recommendation,
13:30like, how the food can go out,
13:31because they know exactly how to pace it out.
13:33Sometimes they like to have a dosa as a main course,
13:35so we like to make sure
13:36that the food is being sent out
13:37exactly how they want it to be.
13:39So that's why that communication is happening.
13:41All right, it's almost 6 now.
13:43I think we almost sold about 30 dosas,
13:46more than 30 dosas.
13:47♪♪
13:50The expediting can be a little stressful
13:52because every single section is, like, completely busy,
13:56and we have a responsibility,
13:57even though if they're busy, it's not an excuse.
13:59We have to make sure
14:00every single dish has been executed
14:03in a way it's supposed to be,
14:04like, in terms of temperature,
14:06taste, consistency, everything.
14:09All right, it's 6.30 now.
14:12Things are kind of slowing down.
14:13Thank you so much for spending the whole day with us
14:15and learning all our stories in the KS kitchen.
14:18We still have two more seating to go,
14:20like, 7 and 9,
14:21and get out of here.
14:23Yes!
14:24♪♪