Former Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi tore into TikTok influencers who gave a scathing review of Semma, a Michelin-starred South Indian restaurant in New York City.
Meg Radice and Audrey Jongens, known for their often rage-baiting food critique videos on their TikTok page, The VIP List, drew backlash for their harsh condemnation of the West Village eatery helmed by executive chef Vijay Kumar, who features dishes he and his mother used to prepare when he was growing up in Tamil Nadu.
The narration for The VIP List's review of Semma begins:
“This is why I’ve lost faith in the Michelin system. 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 'briyani' cart outside of my apartment," the voice says, mispronouncing the proper dish name for "Biryani."
They continue, “I get that this is Southern Indian, so I can’t expect a tiki masala on the menu."
While there is, indeed, no "tiki" masala on Semma's menu, the narrator was presumably referring to "tikka" masala, a dish served in many U.S. eateries that allegedly has its origins in a restaurant in Glasgow, Scotland by a British Pakistani chef.
"…But why does every sauce taste the same?" the narration continues, and claims that every dish at the establishment was "drowned" in "mystery sauce." She also explains that she almost went "full Helen Keller" when some of said sauce got in her eye.
“Usually, I’m a whore for oxtail, but I’d close my legs for this,” the voiceover states, and then compares the biryani to "Wonder Bread."
The clip concludes with:
“Overall, nothing was horrible, but nothing was great either, and I truly do not get the hype. Go cry about it.”
Here's The VIP List's video critique of Semma.
The video got slammed with users calling out the influencers for their micro-aggressive take on the restaurant's ethnic cuisine.
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The controversial clip eventually made its way to Lakshmi, and she had some thoughts.
The creator, host, and executive producer of the docuseries Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi, admitted she doesn't spend much time on TikTok but had to respond to the "really annoying video" that was brought to her attention.
In her TikTok video, captioned "Semma is for us…. And they not like us," Lakshmi bluntly told the White women of The Vip List:
“I’m pretty sure Michelin doesn’t give a sh*t about you, either, or what you think about anything, let alone food."
“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.”
She added:
“And by the way, Semma isn’t made for you. It’s not. It’s made for us."
“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.”
"Maybe you do go to that place you love, the 'briyani' cart–'bri-itney,' " Lakshmi said, using air-quotes.
She concluded with, "I don't know, you guys seem like nice girls…I can only judge you by how you judge, so, I just think you should do a little bit more research before you go deciding about what you're going to slag off."
Here's Lakshmi's response.
Social media users weighed in after Lakshmi's mic drop comments.
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Users on X also ate it up.
The VIP List's Radice and Jongens stood by their critique of Semma.
They told Today:
“Here’s the thing about taste—it’s subjective."
“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.”
The influencers added:
“Social media gives us the freedom to spotlight what we think is great, and call it out when it’s not. If we don’t vibe with a place, that’s not a scandal. It’s just content. It’s commentary. It’s satire."
When asked about Lakshmi's comments, they said they were fans of the author and former Top Chef host and thought the interaction was great. “Wasn’t the beef we expected today, but we’re here for it," they said.
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