One recent evening at Jamavar London, restaurateur Samyukta Nair was dining with her parents when she happened to glance across the room—and did a double take. Seated just a few tables away were Hollywood royalty and meme-fodder favourites Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal, fresh off their new release The Materialists, immersed not in their phones but in Jamavar’s indulgences. “That was an ‘aha’ moment,” she says, laughing. “If Pedro Pascal likes Jamavar, we must be doing something right.”
Indeed, Jamavar isn’t just doing something right—it’s hitting a culinary hat-trick. In less than a year since its launch, its Dubai outpost has joined its London and Doha siblings in clinching a Michelin star, cementing Samyukta’s reputation as one of the most influential tastemakers in global Indian cuisine. It’s a rare feat: a woman restaurateur with three Michelin-starred fine-dining establishments across continents—all offering unapologetically Indian menus wrapped in plush, culturally rooted elegance.
But this legacy wasn’t conjured up in an ordinary kitchen. Born in 1986—the same year her grandfather, the legendary C.P. Krishnan Nair, launched The Leela Mumbai—Samyukta was raised amidst luxury hospitality. Her family home, nestled behind the flagship hotel, was a living archive of colonial-meets-Kerala aesthetics: four-poster beds, carved teakwood doors, heirloom bronze lamps, and a dining table where food, memory, and ambition sat elbow-to-elbow.
“The dining table was the most important place in our home,” she reflects. “That’s where I had the most meaningful conversations—with my grandfather, who was a gourmand, and my father, who introduced me to food as a lens through which to understand the world.” It was also the birthplace of dishes on Jamavar’s menus—puttu with crab curry, egg-and-caviar appams, and a contemporary trio of dosas with finesse at Bombay Bustle.
The décor is an extension of this personal history. Handwoven kalamkari panels, antique jaali work, and traditional Indian brassware sit alongside contemporary artwork and plush velvet banquettes. The design aesthetic, which draws from the rich interiors of Varanasi and the imperial courts of the Deccan, is deliberate and scholarly. “I wanted each restaurant to feel like an experience,” she says, “a journey into Indian culture that goes beyond food and into space, ritual, and nostalgia.” Cuisine, of course, is the star. At Jamavar Dubai, the Viceroy Caviar Selection—an irreverent pairing of baby kulchas stuffed with paneer and dollops of premium caviar—is emblematic of Samyukta’s style: whimsical, rooted, and luxuriously Indian. “I love paneer,” she confesses, “and it deserves to be treated like a delicacy.”
Beyond Jamavar, her London ventures like Mimi Mei Fair and Koyn Thai show her global palate. Mimi Mei Fair is a jewel-box homage to 1920s Shanghai, where lacquered duck meets Chinoiserie chic. Koyn, meanwhile, dives into the umami-rich depths of regional Thai fare, reimagining age-old techniques with contemporary restraint. “We want to pay homage to cuisines we deeply respect, and often partner with chefs doing exceptional work,” she explains.
Chefs, for Samyukta, are not just collaborators—they’re artistes. Culinary director Surender Mohan, who helms Jamavar’s global operations, has trained in both classic Indian and European techniques. Fellow Michelin-winner Chef Himanshu Saini of Tresind Dubai, like Samyukta, is also known for his avant-garde approach to Indian flavours. “Their journeys are personal to me,” she says. “They tell our stories through food.”
The world is clearly listening. With Indian cuisine now finding its rightful place in the pantheon of global fine dining—thanks to chefs like Saini, Gaggan Anand, and Vineet Bhatia—Jamavar’s success is a stylish affirmation that dal makhani belongs in the same breath as foie gras. And Samyukta, with her forward-looking vision, is writing that future with the flourish.
Restaurants are actually theatre. Every plate, every table, every scent, every curtain—it’s all part of the show. And if Pedro Pascal is clapping, well… Jamavar has earned a standing ovation.