Williamsburg has another reason to loosen its belt.
Mythily NYC, the new Williamsburg restaurant from Top Chef alum Rasika Venkatesa, is bringing a deeply personal take on Tamil and South Indian cuisine to 129 Havemeyer Street. And this isn’t simply another restaurant adding “Indian” to the sign and calling it a day.
Named after Venkatesa’s grandmother, Mythily draws heavily from the chef’s childhood in Chennai and her years working in some of the country’s most respected kitchens, including The French Laundry and Mourad. After spending two years developing the concept through pop-ups and a Greenpoint residency, Venkatesa has finally given Mythily a permanent home.
The roughly 1,000-square-foot restaurant seats about 40 guests, with a design inspired in part by the rich colors of Kanchipuram saris. Deep reds, greens, wood, brass and stone give the dining room a warm, intimate feel—because apparently Williamsburg has decided that minimalism had a good run.
The food is where Mythily really makes its case.
Expect dishes that take traditional South Indian flavors and give them a contemporary New York treatment. Highlights include scallop with puli inji and Concord grapes, roasted Caraflex cabbage with sorrel-coconut chutney, benne dosa, tilefish with raw mango-coconut curry and short rib with maitake mushrooms and bone marrow kozhumbu.
Dessert isn’t exactly behaving itself either. Mythily’s rasmalai tres leches combines saffron and cardamom with pistachios, almonds and orange zest, while filter coffee gets transformed into soft serve with peanut-jaggery brittle.
Drinks lean into low-ABV and nonalcoholic creations inspired by Venkatesa’s memories of India.
Now that Mythily has officially joined the Williamsburg restaurant scene, the neighborhood has one more destination for diners looking beyond the usual pizza, burgers and natural wine.
Mythily NYC isn’t trying to recreate Chennai in Brooklyn. It’s telling one chef’s story through food.
And honestly, that’s a pretty delicious story to follow.
