Padma Lakshmi relishes Indian chutneys at Copra SF

Lakshmi commended the restaurant's modern take on South Indian and Sri Lankan coastal flavors during a recent visit.

Padma Lakshmi with Ayesha Thapar / Instagram/ @padmalakshmi

Indian American television host and food expert Padma Lakshmi praised San Francisco's Copra restaurant describing its food as "delicious" and applauding its inventive presentation of Indian condiments.

Sharing her experience in an Instagram post, Lakshmi said the restaurant is "airy, beautiful" with a "great convivial vibe."

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She also praised its cocktail program and highlighted the opening presentation of sauces and chutneys as one of the meal's defining features.

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A post shared by Padma Lakshmi (@padmalakshmi)

"A special highlight is that they took Indian condiments to a new height by presenting you with a thali of different sauces and chutneys right off the bat, setting the tone for the meal to come," Lakshmi wrote. "You can tell a lot by someone's cooking by their sauce work, and I've never seen so many sauces on one thali."

She joked that she developed a "food baby" by the end of the evening after visiting the kitchen and thanked restaurateur Ayesha Thapar for hosting her.

"Thank you @ayesha_kj_thapar for being such a gracious host, I can see why you and the team were nominated for a James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurateur," Lakshmi wrote.

Copra responded to the post, saying, "Thank you so much for joining us!! We hope you visit us again."

Lakshmi's endorsement comes months after Thapar and chef-partner Srijith Gopinathan were named finalists for the 2026 James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurateur for their Cal-India Collective, which includes Copra, Ettan, Eylan, and Little Blue Door.

Although they did not win the award, the nomination placed the restaurant group among the country's leading hospitality operators.

Opened in San Francisco in 2024, Copra is the most personal venture from Michelin-recognized chef Gopinathan, a Kerala native known for pioneering contemporary Cal-Indian cuisine.

The restaurant draws inspiration from the shared coastal food traditions of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka, reinterpreting regional dishes through a California lens using locally sourced seasonal ingredients and modern techniques.

Named after "copra," the dried coconut kernel used to extract coconut oil, the restaurant reflects coconut's central role in South Indian and Sri Lankan coastal cuisines.

Thapar, a Delhi-born entrepreneur and Wellesley College graduate, has said Copra was created to showcase India's culinary diversity, design, and artistic traditions through a contemporary dining experience.

Lakshmi, the Emmy-nominated host of Taste the Nation and the recently launched cooking competition series America's Culinary Cup, has long championed regional cuisines and immigrant food traditions across the United States, frequently spotlighting restaurants and chefs through her television work and social media.

Discover more at New India Abroad.