‘Top Chef’ Star Opens a South Indian Stunner on Havemeyer

By Scott Lynch

Mythily is located at 129 Havemeyer Street, between Grand Avenue and South 1st Street, and is currently open Wednesday through Saturday from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and on Sunday from 4:00 to 9:00 

Growing up in Chennai, a city in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, it never occurred to Rasika Venkatesa that she could turn her love of cooking into any sort of career.

“I didn’t really think much of my teenage escapades in the kitchen at the time. I didn’t know that it was something I was genuinely able to do as a job,” she told Brooklyn Magazine. “I didn’t know anyone in Chennai doing that. Everyone was focused on things like computer engineering and medicine.” Fortunately for all of us who enjoy eating delicious food, Venkatesa has a grandmother named Mythily, who practically lived in the family kitchen back then and taught the young chef everything she knows. “For seven years, we ate her cooking every day for every meal,” Venkatesa said. “She’s truly been the biggest inspiration for me.”

Photo by Scott Lynch

Equally important, her parents also encouraged her to pursue her passion. So Venkatesa became a pro chef, got jobs in some of the world’s finest kitchens (French Laundry, Mourad), became a TV star on Season 21 of Top Chef (which she claimed felt like “some kind of weird simulation”), did a bunch of popups and a residency at Fulgurances in Greenpoint, and then—all while still in her 20s, by the way—opened her own restaurant, the charming and exciting Mythily in Williamsburg, easily one of my favorite new spots of the year.

Eeral fry mousse with nei appam and figs, $22 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

The menu here is tight and filled with things that sound intriguing and taste amazing. “A lot of the dishes at Mythily are inspired not only by my grandmother but also the different regions in South India,” Venkatesa said. “So I’m playing with nostalgic memories of growing up in Chennai, but presenting them in a Brooklyn way.” There’s a baijji basket, for example, but here the popular vegetable-fritter street snack includes things you’d never find in Chennai, like habanada peppers and endive spears. Venkatesa’s version of the classic eeral fry starts with chicken liver mashed into a mousse, gets topped with juicy figs, and paired with nei appam, those crisp-fried pastries made with rice, jaggery, and coconut.

Scallops with granita, $28 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

The scallop crudo goes crazy as well, with thin slices of the sweet bivalve laid atop a tamarind ginger paste called puli inji (a grandmother Mythily specialty), then buried under an icy, crunchy granita made from cardamom-infused panakam, a traditional South Indian drink. It’s almost a little much, but Venkatesa, who clearly likes piling on textures and flavors, pulls it off.

Green circle kozhi ballotine, $38 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

The showstopper is the green circle kozhi ballotine, a phenomenal chicken dish that Venkatesa calls “a play on Western technique meets Indian flavor.” The slow-cooked breast meat is tender and juicy, rolled and stuffed with things like sorrel and coconut chutney. The dark meat gets braised and ground and stuffed into shallot shells. Driver chilies, fennel, cumin, okra, and fried curry leaves add even more oomph to the already rather raucous proceedings.

Benne dosa, $18 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

Caraflex muttaikose cabbage, $30 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

Kathirikkai adaippu curry, $24 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

Three other things we ate are also worth considering. The benne dosa was delightfully soft and squishy and got a lot of pop from the Nardello pepper chutney. The caraflex and muttaikose cabbage entree co-starred a slew of nuts, mushrooms, and saucy green lentils. And the kathirikai adaippu curry, arguably the prettiest dish of the night, was essentially stuffed baby eggplants blanketed in corn, sweet peppers, and sungolds. Next time, I’m going meatier with my order, eyeing the lamb sukka dumplings and the short rib with plums and maitake.

Ras malai tres leches, $16 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

We ended with a dessert for the ages, absolutely one of the best sweet treats you can get anywhere in Brooklyn right now. Venkatesa calls this creation her “ras malai tres leches,” a sweet, milky, oozing slab of incredible spongy cake, topped with whipped white chocolate and pistachios, the whole thing redolent with saffron and citrus. Spectacular stuff.

Photo by Scott Lynch

The room is cozy and feels contemporary, with a can’t-miss-it red exterior and seating for about 45. The only artwork is a large portrait of little-girl Venkatesa getting fed by her grandmother. Cocktails, often infused with traditional South Indian flavors, will set you back $17, glasses of wine cost about the same, and there are some cool-sounding beers for around ten bucks each.

“When I moved to NYC in 2024, I gravitated to Brooklyn immediately,” Venkatesa said. “I love it because I feel like we can really express our openness and creativity here. So I hope we’re a good addition to the Brooklyn community. We really love the support we got at our popups, and we really want people from the neighborhood to come visit us.”