Our Story

Aarthi Sampath is the founder and chef-owner of Dravida. Raised in Mumbai, she began her culinary training with Taj Hotels before moving to the United States to attend Johnson & Wales University. She has worked at some of New York City’s most celebrated restaurants, including Junoon, The Breslin, the Rainbow Room, and Chinese Tuxedo. She is a chef partner at CookUnity, where her meals now reach more than 45,000 people across the country each week.

A celebrated Food Network chef, Aarthi has won Chopped, Beat Bobby Flay, and Guy’s Grocery Games, and competed on Tournament of Champions and BBQ Brawl. She has also served as a judge on MasterChef Tamil.

Dravida is Aarthi’s love letter to the South Asian diaspora. It is the culmination of more than a decade of research, conversations, and travel, inspired by the people she has met in New York and around the world. Driven by a deep curiosity to understand the South Asian diaspora and the remarkable cuisines it created, she has built a restaurant that celebrates those stories through food, bringing together regional traditions, migration, and exceptional hospitality under one roof.