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Analog-ish is a weekly interview podcast for people who are tired of being optimized. Hosted by feminist coach Becky Mollenkamp, who believes slowing down is a radical act, each episode features conversations with thinkers, makers, and everyday radicals who are finding their way back to something slower, more intentional, and more human.
We're not here to tell you to smash your phone or go off the grid. We're here to ask better questions about the role technology plays in your life — and to explore practical low-tech ideas that give you more agency over the answer. From reclaiming rest to building real-life community, from protecting your attention to finding unmonetized joy, these conversations are honest, curious, and refreshingly free of hustle culture.
If you're burned out from being constantly online and hungry for a different way forward, this show is for you.
Becky Mollenkamp (00:16)
Hello, welcome back to Analogish. I'm so excited today to have with me Aarthi Sampath, who
is a chef. Do you like to be called a celebrity chef?
Aarthi Sampath (00:24)
No, I think chef is great. I'm I'm a chef first and that's that's definitely become a part of my identity now.
Becky Mollenkamp (00:31)
The TV stuff is secondary, but also probably fun. You've
Aarthi Sampath (00:33)
Yes.
Becky Mollenkamp (00:34)
been on all sorts of shows, beat Bobby Flay, chopped a lot of the things that my husband loves and adores. And I'm
Aarthi Sampath (00:42)
Ha ha ha.
Becky Mollenkamp (00:43)
sure maybe we can talk a little bit about some of those experiences, but you also have a new restaurant that's recently opened in New York City called
Aarthi Sampath (00:48)
It's
Becky Mollenkamp (00:49)
Dravida. And I'm excited to talk a little bit about that, about your history, about technology, about food as connection. So thank you for being here, Aarthi.
Aarthi Sampath (00:57)
Yeah, thank you for having me. I'm excited.
Becky Mollenkamp (00:59)
Excellent. Well, I would like to actually kind of start with your origin story. How did food and cooking food become an important part of your life? Because I have a feeling inside of that story will probably bring us to some of the bits around how food serves as connection.
Aarthi Sampath (01:17)
Yes, absolutely. I think I've always loved eating and I've you know, as a kid you'd go to school with your lunchbox and you kind of just want to eat someone else's lunch. That that at least that was my life. I didn't want to eat my mom's cooking and we would just exchange lunch boxes. And that's when I just saw the diversity in food I would have. you know, India is extremely diverse. We have so many cuisines and
That's the best school is the best place to get exposed to that. And I think I've always just been in love with flavors and just something unique, unique techniques, even as a kid. I would just be extremely curious how something was made. And then I was about 13, 14 when I first baked a cake. It was a recipe that was written on a piece of paper that was my mom's friend who wrote it down for me, and then I made that cake and I realized wow.
This, I can do this because it's it's so cool to see like simple ingredients like flour and eggs and yogurt or water, whatever it be, just you just mix them all together and then it becomes into this wonderful, fragrant, incredibly delicious thing that everyone around you is happy and then they pat your back. And I think that was my first experience, you know, with feedback and I realized I'd love I would love to make people happy with food.
So my you know, just cooking
Becky Mollenkamp (02:37)
Okay.
Aarthi Sampath (02:39)
with my mom's cookbooks and and one thing led to the other.
Becky Mollenkamp (02:43)
And food does make us so happy, so doesn't it? At least some of us. And I think many of us have that kind of a memory of may like the, like you said, the wonder and science, the art and science of especially baking, seeing like these
Aarthi Sampath (02:56)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (02:57)
ingredients that look like nothing turning into this, like rising into this beautiful thing and people enjoying it. And I don't know that most of us at 13 especially think that could be a job.
Right? Because it's just part of our daily
Aarthi Sampath (03:09)
Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (03:10)
lives and it doesn't necessarily feel like work. Work feels like, you know, becoming a firefighter or a teacher or an astronaut when you're young. So when did you start to realize, this could be like I could actually do this for a living?
Aarthi Sampath (03:21)
well I I you know, you just never know what you want to do for a living. And I think that's such that's just in incredibly incorrect pressure on a young child. Right at 14, 15, you're asked, what do you want to become? And it's like you you wanna say you wanna become a doctor, and probably don't. So that's that's how it was for me for the longest time. I didn't really know.
What exactly wanted to do, but I just had this calling for food. I loved cooking it. I didn't know how it would shape up because back then too in the industry, you didn't really see a lot of women in the kitchen and you didn't really know what a chef's chef's life entails. It wasn't the most respected profession as well. So I just wanted to do something with food. So I kind of just got into it with like hospitality school
and
Just just took one s one step in front of the other. And I think that's how a career should go. You just go for something you like and then you just explore it over time.
Becky Mollenkamp (04:21)
Yeah. You touched on something there that I think is kind of interesting, which is in that time, which is, you know, probably I don't want to presume your age, but let's say
Aarthi Sampath (04:28)
Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (04:29)
maybe fifteen, twenty years ago at least, right? Probably.
Aarthi Sampath (04:30)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (04:31)
Pre celebrity chef thing, right? There was a time where
Aarthi Sampath (04:35)
Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (04:35)
I don't I we had Julia Child, we had a few folks that people knew, but on the whole, I don't think that the restaurant industry and cooking as a profession had the the
Star power around it like it does now. And now in the age of Chopped and all of these shows that that can even elevate sort of home cooks to that status
Aarthi Sampath (04:55)
Yeah, yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (04:56)
or give them those experiences. It's very different. And so in that way, technology has probably been helpful in some ways, in that it's exposed people to a career they may not have thought of. It's made that career something
Aarthi Sampath (05:07)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (05:08)
that people view very differently, and like you said, it's more respected.
Aarthi Sampath (05:12)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (05:12)
I'm
also gonna guess technology has had some harder changes in the industry. but also like I in my mind, I think cooking is cooking, it's been the same for very for hundreds of years, but I'm sure that's not true. So I'm kind of curious about how does technology, your experience with technology in the kitchen over these last however long you've been doing this, a couple decades,
Aarthi Sampath (05:32)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (05:32)
how has that changed? Is the ki is the kitchen an area where in the restaurant, especially not just at home?
For home chefs, although they're too, but is it an area where technology is also changing the game?
Aarthi Sampath (05:43)
Wow, technology plays a huge role in how a restaurant operates. Firstly, it's you know, we use we use POS systems that help us with just daily sales. And you know, we're I'm just figuring out this app that helps us record our inventory, like so you don't have to use a paper inventory book. there's just millions of things that just you know you can use.
For there's there are apps that you know my team clocks in and out. So there's of course, and even like your recipes, for example, using AI to just help you with the salt content of a recipe. You know, your recipe is yours and then you've figured all this out. Okay, I'm gonna make a sauce, I'm gonna add this protein, I'm adding a garnish, but then you're just not getting the salt percentage right to perfect us or standardize your recipe.
AI will give you a great like outline of hey, there are recipes out there where 2% or 3% of the total volume works perfect. And then when you try it and it often works. So I think it's it's really helped us save time, save on labor. And you don't, you know, I'm payroll is being done all automated. So it's it's it's incredible. I think technology plays.
It's of course a people run business and it's a service run business, but technology is extremely impactful, a hundred percent.
Becky Mollenkamp (07:14)
Is there anything that you wish techno any technology you'd like to see removed from the kitchen or that you kind of think is maybe having the same in the in the same way that I think for artists, AI is there's
Aarthi Sampath (07:26)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (07:26)
challenging there. Like you said, it can make things easier, but it can also start to really affect can they get jobs? Is their art appreciated?
Aarthi Sampath (07:33)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (07:34)
Is it being stolen? So I'm curious with
With your industry, are there things about technology that you are nervous about or that you already could see that you wish maybe this wasn't in the kitchen?
Aarthi Sampath (07:43)
I don't think we need to be nervous about anything because it's only enhanced and improved our work. You know, you we will need cooks, we will need servers, we will need managers, we will need leaders. we cannot replace that. What we can only do is improve improve what we're serving. I think so many restaurants operate without standard recipes and they're just
you know, they're relying on someone to make a flavorful sauce without really having a structure to it. I think technology helps you s you know, like tell you exactly how much you need, how much you you know, you can look at your sales and decide. Like this is we only need ten or fifteen portions of this. Why are we making any any much more than that? So I think that's I I've not seen it really change. And I also have
another food business. I work in partnership with Cook Unity where we serve thousands of meals every single day and in four different cities and I wouldn't really be able to handle all of that if I didn't have technology. We didn't we didn't know that they were recording exactly what they were serving. So it's it it just to maintain quality, maintain labor and food cost and also help us just
do what we're supposed to do is is attend to the quality of the product and give the guest the best experience instead of wasting our time on other things.
Becky Mollenkamp (09:11)
Well, anything that can reduce food waste in a world where we waste so much food
Aarthi Sampath (09:14)
Absolutely.
Becky Mollenkamp (09:16)
is a beautiful gift. Well, you mentioned that it's a service-driven business and restaurant work is kind of one of these last remaining areas of work that can't really be done remotely. Can't yet anyway be really fully automated.
Aarthi Sampath (09:31)
Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (09:32)
It can't be done when you're
Totally zoned out and on listening to your headphones and doing something. I mean, you can probably do
some degree of that, but you have to be pretty
Aarthi Sampath (09:38)
Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (09:39)
present. You have to be paying attention. Like you said, make sure you're not pulling the sugar instead of the salt. Like it's a it's a job that requires more presence. It also requires interaction with humans when people come in to
Aarthi Sampath (09:50)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (09:51)
dine. Is that part of what you like about it? I because when I watch some of these celebrity chef shows.
Aarthi Sampath (09:57)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (09:58)
It's
interesting. You see some chefs who seem to really enjoy that element, the human element of it, and then others that we don't have to mention, but where it seems like that's more of a nuisance to them. So I'm curious where you fall in that of is the human part of cooking what makes you love cooking, or was it it's more the art and the science of it and less the human part?
Aarthi Sampath (10:17)
well, I think we cannot really exclude the human part in cooking because as much as you would love robotics or whatever to take over, there is there's this touch and there's this common sense that you use when you're when you're cooking. And then even I mean, with the food shows, there's a small percentage of chefs who enjoy being in the limelight, enjoy being in front of
the camera and I'm one of them. I love the camera. Once it rolls, I'm, you know, I'm i it's like my alter ego, I would say. It's a different personality. And I absolutely love that about the camera. And I think those chefs succeed on TV and the ones who are there, I think it's a great tool for a marketing tool for you know it's a great marketing tool for just like connecting with
your audience and connec and connecting with more. It's a marketing. It's and it's great feedback for yourself too. Where do I stand as a chef? 'Cause some of these shows you just really need to be on your feet. you know, quick you're think quickly and you know, you have to move fast. It's not about winning or losing, but it's just great to see how creative you are.
Becky Mollenkamp (11:27)
And speaking of sort of the human element of of kitchen work and being a chef, you've also worked in Michelin Star kitchens, which are notoriously challenging, competitive, fast-paced, you know, disciplined, all of that. And then you've also done obviously TV where the pace is definitely very fast. Have has all of that sort of changed?
your relationship with speed and and when you're thinking about cooking, because I think often we think of cooking as like this med meditative, slower, like I said, being fully present kind of experienced. And yet some of those things can be
Aarthi Sampath (12:03)
Not yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (12:04)
potentially take away from that or challenge that. So like where do you fall when you think about cooking? Is it is it meditative for you? Is it fast and disciplined? How do what's your relationship with cooking?
Aarthi Sampath (12:14)
I think if I have to give another example maybe that is more relatable, is maybe say you take up a class, a pottery class, and then you're you know, it's very therapeutic, you're in this class, just like in at home, if you're cooking a meal at for dinner you're having a glass of wine and you're and you're cooking your steak and you're like really relaxed and you're just cooking for yourself, now you add that being a mom and now you have to cook for four kids and then
in the same if you're a potter and you have to make you have to deliver 50 plates to a client. So I think it's that l layer, and I think people need to understand that that when when it's a professional restaurant and I'm cooking for a a guest or it's a meal delivery service, it's it is either it's like a factory or either it's it's extremely fast-paced.
We people have romanticized cooking to such a degree, which is great, but then it's just like any other product. It needs a proper system, it needs a standard recipe, it needs the right ingredient, the perfect temperature, and you need a ton of awareness, you need speed, you need skill, and it needs it it there is some things do take time. We have braces that take three, four hours, but we've calculated that time during the day.
So yeah, it's it's it's a it's is just as it's very similar to any other field where a product is created.
Becky Mollenkamp (13:40)
You mentioned food delivery services there as well, but because I want to talk a little bit like in this age of Uber Eats and drive drive-thru
Aarthi Sampath (13:46)
Yeah, yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (13:48)
meals and that sort of thing, having the experience as a diner of going into a restaurant, sitting down, having a
Aarthi Sampath (13:53)
Okay.
Becky Mollenkamp (13:54)
meal prepared for you, delivered to your table, enjoyed at the table while you're having conversation,
Aarthi Sampath (13:58)
Right.
Becky Mollenkamp (13:59)
that's a special experience. Also, I'm thinking though, of how that contrasts so much with what's happening in the kitchen. It's almost like
A duck where like the kitchen staff or the are
the people under the under
Aarthi Sampath (14:10)
Yeah, too.
Becky Mollenkamp (14:11)
the water, right? Everything there is moving like this, so that
Aarthi Sampath (14:13)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (14:14)
the people in that dining room can have the experience of the duck on top of the water, which is this like
Aarthi Sampath (14:18)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (14:19)
slow, wonderful experience. But what is it that
Aarthi Sampath (14:21)
Right.
Becky Mollenkamp (14:23)
in-person dining, because you're open, you know, you've opened this new in-person restaurant,
Aarthi Sampath (14:26)
Yes.
Becky Mollenkamp (14:27)
right? What is that experience for the diners? We can move out of the kitchen and into the dining room.
But what is it that
Aarthi Sampath (14:32)
Right.
Becky Mollenkamp (14:32)
that experience offers that you just don't get in the age of Uber Eats and fast food and eating in your car?
Aarthi Sampath (14:39)
I think the this whole experience, unless you'd really curated in your home, it's tough because you're being waited on. You come, you sit down, someone's pouring you water, you're being asked how your day is. I think it's just hard when you're doing an Uber Eats order, which is fine. I do Uber Eats all the time. so a di but I love dining experiences because it takes me away from
all the stresses of my day. I could be in like white light all day, like in a boardroom. I could be running around or for myself I'm in a restaurant under white light in a kitchen, you know, just barking orders. And I just need an hour and a half to relax. And that's what a restaurant is supposed to do. Is you go in there, you're not judged for how you look, you look tired, you just have a sip of
the first cocktail or a beverage and then you just feel like okay I can decompress a little bit and then also have an experience like the dining the food is extremely hot things are crisp versus when you when it's delivered at home you lose at least 15% of or even more sometimes because if a delivery takes 40 minutes to get to your place you could probably have a half melted ice cream you can have
you know, if you're ordering a crispy empanada or something that's it's pretty much soggy because of the steam in it. So you're just never going to get hundred percent of that experience when you're eating, and dining out. But also it's against service if you're if your service is not you know it's not kind, it's not customer focused.
then it may not feel like a great experience and you'd rather eat that on the couch. so it's so I think it's it's definitely a huge balance and it's quite difficult now that I've opened a restaurant I'm seeing it's not as easy as it looks.
Becky Mollenkamp (16:36)
Yes, I've heard that
it is. And we see
Aarthi Sampath (16:38)
But
Becky Mollenkamp (16:39)
the turnover rate on restaurants is really high because it is really challenging. I I'm curious about why now. and I'm thinking about, you know, 2020, 2021, a very different landscape for restaurants. And in some ways it it made all of that experience of the Uber Eats and those sorts of things and and drive-throughs and fast dining and eating more at home, it elev it it made that more prevalent, right?
out of necessity. And I feel like now that we're six years removed from that, I'm curious if you're experiencing this as well, that people are a little tired of soggy and bananas and half melted
Aarthi Sampath (17:15)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (17:15)
ice cream and eating with just their family and watching TV while they're doing it. We're missing that communal experience of restaurants. And so I'm curious what what you're noticing now that you've opened this restaurant around the timing
Is that what's happening? Is that part of why now for you? Is that a response to just the timing of of of human desire for reconnection?
Aarthi Sampath (17:38)
I think yes, restaurants are doing incredibly well because it's it's just the cr you're just craving someone to take care of you and it's a small price to be c paid, right? You're not you don't have to space pay spend thousands of dollars to enjoy some company and enjoy like a kind and beautiful energy. And I think so many restaurants it's hard to get into is because they've nailed hospitality and I think that's why people wanna go.
Go there and just experience and just be wowed by the the generosity, the kindness, the feeling of just feeling like you're you know lucky that you're getting to dine there. and Uber Eats is just going to stay because there's always going to be there's always going to be it's so incredibly important for smaller restaurants that don't have enough dining space or cannot provide that kind of.
a special environment. And it's it's not easy to give exceptional service because then you need a huger staff, you need better chairs, you need better lighting, you need and to repeat that day in, day out, it's it's extremely hard. And there's a very small percentage of restaurants that actually do that. So the rest of the million restaurants that are there in cities like New York or s and or anywhere, for them to survive, I think these apps have
change the game
Aarthi Sampath (19:01)
the reason why delivery services need to be there and have to be there is because if you're craving a meal that's about a few miles away and you can't afford an Uber, you can't or you cannot walk, you you've got a sprained ankle and you need food, you've you're in a pinch, I think they really save the day. And they're not really an evil. I think the evil here is the delivery,
take over 30%, 35% from the from the from the the customer from the sorry, from the owner restaurant, restaurant or the the little shop. And it I think that's what becomes incredibly difficult for restaurants to manage.
Becky Mollenkamp (19:43)
And I think like in so many things in life, it's about balance because I also can't afford to go out to a restaurant and sit down and eat every night, both financially and time-wise. But it's a lovely thing when I get to do it. And that feeling that it gives me is so special. And it's only special because I don't do it every meal as well, right? I want to talk about your new restaurant, Dravida. So first of all, I want to talk a little bit about s the training that you've done with people so that
People have that kind of experience. But before that, tell us a little bit about the cuisine, because it's about tracing a cuisine that has been sort of scattered probably through a lot of colonial things that have happened across the diaspora. And I love that concept. You know, we talk a lot about intersectional issues here and and colonialism and empire and those sorts of things. And I haven't really had a discussion
about how.
what that means in relationship with food. And so I love that you're exploring that with restaurant. Tell us a little bit about what that means and what that looks like on the plate.
Aarthi Sampath (20:41)
Dravida is you know, I I wrote this concept in 2019 and I've been working on it ever since. And I've I think it just started at a young age, like when my parents took me to Sri Lanka or we traveled to Singapore, we've been to Nepal and I just love that there were flavors that I rem that felt very familiar but also extremely different, different techniques and we spoke similar languages.
It was even though it was another country and then just tracing back the history of how India was divided or how there's im cross immigration, there's you know, people s s seeking different opportunities would leave home and go to another country as refugees. I think this is this is celebrating all that food. And for me, I think it was an identity thing for me because I left home
You I was over like 14, 15 years ago. And when I came here, I couldn't really relate to being completely Indian or I couldn't relate to being completely American. And I think I I realized that there were so many of us like that, so many South Asians who felt like they didn't have like a sense of home, they didn't have a sense of connection. And this is this is what Draveda is for me. It's a very it's an American restaurant because
It really celebrates the diversity of this country.
Becky Mollenkamp (22:04)
Well, and food is part of our story, isn't it? It's part it's it's such a big part of culture and story.
Aarthi Sampath (22:10)
Thinking to be five.
Becky Mollenkamp (22:11)
And yeah, and I love that it it talks about a story across centuries, across continents. It talks about the story of migration, of immigration, of of empire, of colonialism, and how all of these things shape and affect, but there's still like threads there. And so what
Aarthi Sampath (22:27)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (22:27)
are the threads?
that go across all of those changes over time, over location, that to you are like the quintessential things that you want Dravida to bring to a plate.
Aarthi Sampath (22:39)
Think one of the biggest threads is hospitality. I I you would never walk into a Pakistani home or a Guyanese family's home and not be taken care of. Or an Indian family's home, you're gonna be you're they're definitely gonna make you chai, they're gonna make you feel like home, they're gonna overfeed you. they you know, it's everybody's grandma is very similar, everybody's mom is similar. we
And I think that's that's a huge thread. And then it's always tropical. I feel we share vegetables and fruits that are very summer focused. Like mangoes are in South America, mangoes are in are in Sri Lanka, they're in it's a huge part of South Asia. So just just similar, like we use herbs like cilantro and basil with wild abundance in all these
parts, I think robust flavours and then the biggest thread would be spice because spice you know growing you know it was used as trade and that's how you have curry powder in Britain and you have all these different versions of curries in Jamaica, in in West Indies and Uganda and you know you have it so it's I think spices played a huge role in
yeah, in just creating this connection. And that's all I've truly wanted. It was it I think it's my calling to bring us together through spice.
Becky Mollenkamp (24:06)
Mm. I love that. And what are you doing with your team, your staff to make sure that that hospitality piece is
Aarthi Sampath (24:13)
Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (24:13)
what you want it to be? Because obviously I I'm assuming not everyone working in your restaurant has the same
Aarthi Sampath (24:18)
Yeah, yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (24:18)
lived experience, same shared background, same culture as you. So how are you helping them make sure that the people that are in that restaurant paying for a meal are getting the experience that you want? Because so much of dining out
is experience, not just taste.
Aarthi Sampath (24:30)
And
I think it's training. training plays a very, very strong role. We just need we are working on like a training plan and as much as we are always talking about it during our pre-shift, we are talking about it when when someone new joins, we talk to them about our philosophy and see if that works out for them. Cause this may not be a place for them as well. And
It's and I think that we make that abundantly clear that where everything we do is at kind of the epitome of hospitality. And it's it's really about anybody anyone, whether you're South American or whether you're you're you know, you grew up in America, you understand hospitality because you've experienced that at home, whether it is a
A loving parent, it is a grandma or it's an aunt who has showered a lot of love on at you. And I think that's what we ask them to bring in. Like bring in that inner auntie, bring in your inner grandma and make and resolve problems. Like people will, you know, guests can be can be demanding, they can have, they can be upset because a dish isn't perfect. Now, how do we deal with it? how do we how do you solve the problem without
getting agitated ourselves.
Becky Mollenkamp (25:46)
That's the thing that I think separates an amazing restaurant from one that
is you may not go back to, right? So it's beautiful.
Aarthi Sampath (25:49)
Right. Right.
Becky Mollenkamp (25:52)
What is it that you want people to feel when they're three bites into a meal in your restaurant?
Aarthi Sampath (25:58)
I've I mean I've had guests who've cried because they they haven't seen that dish ever been represented on a menu. they've I've had guests who've whose eyes just like light up after a bite and who've who love the menu just the way it's written. the the first sip of the drink like takes them back home. there's nostalgia and for people and for the ones who don't may not have a connection with the food.
still feel like it's a very unique experience. So we're seeing that with our reviews and seeing that with our feedback. People are appreciating what we're trying to build here.
Becky Mollenkamp (26:34)
It's beautiful. That has to be the part of your work, I would think, that feels the most rewarding. I mean, having someone move to tears of just joy from a bite of your food, I can't imagine how rewarding that is. And starting and running a restaurant is hectic. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of stress. How are you making sure that you build into your days, into your life spaciousness for
That gratitude piece, that joy piece, the remembering the why, so that you don't get too bogged down in the like this vendor didn't come through, we
have too many bookings,
Aarthi Sampath (27:06)
Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (27:07)
they're not enough but you know, all the things that you have to deal with in a day to day.
So how do you how do you find spaciousness to relish in the good amidst all the stress?
AARTHI (27:16)
I think it's when the the guest smiles and I think we're doing all this hard work. We're really pushing the limits. just for the guests to feel happy and you know they're I I just want them to feel taken care of because it's a New York City. I do understand why I go to a restaurant and I go there for comfort and sometimes belonging if that's possible, but at least
a meal that makes me feel just like a warm hug because it's it's very hard living in a city that just never sleeps. You're taking the train and then you're working, your boss is yelling at you, you're you have coworkers, that maybe are being bitchy to you. It's just it's it's a tough it's a tough and then you have piles and piles of work and you wanna just escape that for an hour and a half. And that's what we just keep talking about in restaurants. Like
Let them have a great time. And let's resolve their problem if we can.
Becky Mollenkamp (28:11)
I think that's beautiful, Aarthi And it still feels like it was about them and not you. So I'm gonna ask a different way, which is what do you do for yourself that is your version of like them going out for dinner? And maybe it's going out to dinner at someone else's restaurant, but maybe it's something else. What's your form of self care?
AARTHI (28:30)
man, I mean I do a lot of things like I try to get a workout in and I try to take a little quiet time if I wake up early, like go go to a coffee shop nearby and you know that I love like the specific matcha that I get. I treat myself to that a couple of times a week. And you know, when you're you're you're a restaurant or you're an entrepreneur, like doing something better for the business is almost
feels like I'm taking care of myself because I can t do all the massages, I can do my facials and I which I try to do when I can, but when I do something better to improve my business, like I'm thinking of a different a different thing. I think entrepreneurs are built different. Like I think we really thrive on improving our business versus trying to escape it. I think it's
When you have an if I were like loosely compare it to someone who's in a job that they hate and then they're trying to escape it by doing so many activities and going and I I would love I'd love to go for a pottery class and and I as much as I would enjoy that, I think I would enjoy more is finding a beautiful plate for the restaurant or t ex or you know, I'm at the farmer's market picking some amazing produce for a special for Friday night. I think that's
that's who I am.
Becky Mollenkamp (29:50)
Spoken like a true chef. I love
it. Okay,
AARTHI (29:52)
Ha ha ha.
Becky Mollenkamp (29:53)
to for us to wrap up, because I want to be mindful of your time, for
AARTHI (29:56)
Yes, please.
Becky Mollenkamp (29:57)
people listening who are thinking you've got them thinking about food, their mouths are watering. and they're also feeling all of the overwhelm of living in an AI world, of a high-tech world, feeling some
AARTHI (30:08)
Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (30:08)
of the disconnection that that can cause.
Like what do you want them to leave with? Is there something that you want them to do or something you want them to be thinking about as it relates to like their relationship with food or cooking?
AARTHI (30:18)
what we would I think there's obviously so much AI and there's like you mentioned, you know, your you can just doom scroll your way into a whole evening and do nothing and just order Uber Eats. which but I would encourage you to come out and come to a restaurant like Dravida where we're going back to the roots. We have a wood fired oven where there's no technology. It's solely operates on firewood.
We have a beautiful loving team that is truly invested in wanting your experience to be amazing and we and our food, I think our food really speaks. You can look at you know, look at reviews. I think you're going to just have a unique experience and I think just seeking that in life. I think a part of your life needs to have restaurants that just I think do well and are in
Incredibly important in society because that's a space where you can have a conversation 'cause where else are you having one? Right? Like me and my partner go out
Becky Mollenkamp (31:16)
Exactly.
AARTHI (31:17)
for dinner is because of that we can talk. And I think, it's or you're meeting a friend, and it's just so much easier to not be on your phone when you're at a nice place. It's almost rude, right, when you p pull your phone out. So yeah, so
Becky Mollenkamp (31:30)
Yes.
AARTHI (31:31)
which is nice, yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (31:32)
We've I've talked on the show about third spaces, those places that we gather that are outside
of the home and work.
AARTHI (31:37)
Mm-hmm.
Becky Mollenkamp (31:38)
And restaurants is I mean, it's not a free one, but it's definitely one of those places where community happens. Because there, like you said, there's only so many places that we can gather outside of our homes and work. And it's
AARTHI (31:49)
Yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (31:50)
like, where do we go? And restaurants are one of those, probably one of the most popular and special places for us to be in community with each other. So
AARTHI (31:57)
Yes,
yeah.
Becky Mollenkamp (31:58)
You're
a few months into your restaurant. I wish you continued success. It sounds like it's going
AARTHI (32:02)
Thank you.
Becky Mollenkamp (32:02)
very well. And thank you for creating those kinds of spaces for people to have community. where what would you most want people like? Where do you want them to find you, follow you, learn more from you?
AARTHI (32:12)
just find us in the East Village in New York City. it it's 211 First Avenue. You'll find our address on our website or Instagram. Yeah, just come have a g meal with us and just tell us that you found us through analog ish.
Becky Mollenkamp (32:28)
Please do. That would be amazing. I hope that that happens. Thank you so much for your time, Artie. I really appreciate
AARTHI (32:31)
Yeah. Thank you.
Becky Mollenkamp (32:33)
it.
AARTHI (32:33)
Thank you so much, Becky.