Padma Lakshmi calls out influencers who said South Indian restaurant didn’t deserve its Michelin star
A scathing TikTok review of an award-winning restaurant is drawing its own criticism from a former “Top Chef” host.
On March 7, when The VIP List (run by Meg Radice and Audrey Jongens), influencers known for their blunt (and often rage-baiting) approach to restaurant reviews, set the internet ablaze with their video on Semma, a Michelin-starred South Indian restaurant in New York City.
The West Village eatery is helmed by chef Vijay Kumar, who recently received a James Beard Foundation nomination for Best Chef: New York State.
“This is why I’ve lost faith in the Michelin system,” the voiceover begins. “Semma is the only Indian restaurant in all of New York with a Michelin star, and here’s the real tea. I could name 15 better Indian restaurants right now, including the biryani cart outside of my apartment.”
The pair gave good marks for the spot’s Mattu Iraichi Sukka and Gunpowder Dosa, but laid into the restaurant’s other offerings.
“I get that this is Southern Indian, so I can’t expect a tiki masala on the menu,” they say, referring to chicken tikka masala, a dish invented by a Pakistani Scottish chef in Glasgow, served at many Indian restaurants in the U.S.
The pair also said everything was “drowned” in a “mystery sauce” that had nearly had them go “full Helen Keller” when it got in their eyes.
“Usually, I’m a whore for oxtail, but I’d close my legs for this,” said the voiceover. They then compared the biryani to Wonder Bread. “Overall, nothing was horrible, but nothing was great either, and I truly do not get the hype. Go cry about it.”
The review was posted on the pair’s Instagram and TikTok, but it didn’t go over well on either platform.
“The pronunciation of biriyani and tikka masala told me all i need to know,” wrote one TikToker.
“She let the racism slip a little in this one,” wrote another.
“Good, keep your followers away from Semma so people with actual taste can get reservations thanks,” commented one person on Instagram.
“Awful, sad take. But, I’m sure you knew that when posting this click bait,” wrote another. “Think Bourdain said it best when talking about people like you: ‘They are the very picture of entitled, negative energy. They’re bad for chefs, they’re bad for restaurants.’”
The lightning rod of a review also caught the attention of TV host, author and food expert Padma Lakshmi, who called it “really annoying” in an April 3 video captioned, “Semma is for us…. And they not like us.”
“I’m pretty sure Michelin doesn’t give a s— about you, either, or what you think about anything, let alone food,” Lakshmi says. “And just a tip before you go off slagging other cuisines, maybe you should understand them a little bit more, or at least, I don’t know, learn how to pronounce the dishes you’re actually critiquing. I got news for you: There’s no ‘tiki’ anything in Indian cuisine.”
“And by the way, Semma isn’t made for you. It’s not. It’s made for us,” Lakshmi says. “I’m pretty sure that if nobody but desis went there for the rest of its existence, it would still be booked solid for the next decade.”
Commenters ate Lakshmi’s rebuke up: “Imagine having the Queen of spice herself this mad at you, I would retire!!” one wrote.
Meanwhile, the women behind The VIP List say they approach every cuisine with fairness, regardless of “origin or hype,” and that they just weren’t fans of Semma.
“Here’s the thing about taste—it’s subjective,” Radice and Jongens tell TODAY.com. “We all have it, and you don’t need a certification to know what you like (or don’t). That’s kind of the whole point of what we do. You’re welcome to agree with our taste—or not.”
“Social media gives us the freedom to spotlight what we think is great, and call it out when it’s not,” they add. “If we don’t vibe with a place, that’s not a scandal. It’s just content. It’s commentary. It’s satire.”
Regarding Lakshmi, they say they’re fans and think it’s great she added her thoughts to the discussion: “Wasn’t the beef we expected today but we’re here for it.”
