Openings: Drāvida on 1st Avenue

Photo by Juan Carlos Dominguez

Drāvida debuted last Thursday at 211 First Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street. 

The restaurant by chef Aarthi Sampath draws from South Asian cuisines and diaspora cooking, with influences from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Trinidad, Guyana and elsewhere. 

Menu items include Trinidadian doubles, oxtail bunny chow, idlis with shrimp, and nasi kandar. Find the menu here. 

The two-floor establishment includes a 20-seat downstairs bar called Jam and Jaggery. 

Sampath moved to New York from Mumbai in 2013 and previously worked at restaurants including Junoon, The Breslin and the Rainbow Room. (You may also recognize her from some reality TV shows, like when she won on "Chopped" and "Beat Bobby Flay.") 

No. 211 has been vacant since Luzzo's left here in 2022.

Signage alert: Drāvida Indian Diaspora by Chef Aarthi Sampath

Photo by Choresh Wald 

There's a lot of activity these days at 211 First Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street. 

Signage is up for Drāvida Indian Diaspora, a new concept from Aarthi Sampath, a consultant and chef known for her multiple TV appearances on "Guy's Grocery Games," "Chopped" and "Beat Bobby Flay."

We don't know too much about the new project... the restaurant received CB3 approval for a liquor license last September. (Questionnaire here.) 

It's a smallish dining room with four tables that seat 20 people. (We're assuming there will be a to-go component as well, as Sampath is involved with CookUnity, which delivers prepared meals weekly.) Proposed hours on the CB3 application were daily from 3 p.m. to midnight.

The space has been vacant since Luzzo's closed here in 2022.