I grew up in Elmhurst, Queens, not far from Jackson Heights. It was a very mixed neighborhood, but it did have a lot of South Asian kids. In the ’70s, I remember always going to Jackson Heights on Saturday to the temple, to go grocery shopping for all our Indian groceries, and to bring home samosas. When I was older, my mother and I moved back and forth between Queens and Manhattan; my mother shopped at Kalustyan’s because that was the only place that sold Indian groceries in Manhattan.

Those days, I was still very much a pure vegetarian and I didn’t eat a lot of things. If we did go out to eat anything other than Indian food, it would always have to have some rice. Even if there was nothing else, at least I could get rice with some soy sauce and Tabasco or something. As a teen I moved to California and then I came back to New York after I graduated from college in the mid-’90s. I was in Manhattan and I wasn’t going back to Queens so much. I did my grocery shopping on 28th Street by then. I lived just above Gramercy Park so I could walk to Kalustyan’s, and because Kalustyan’s did well, by that time other Indian stores started popping up around it, as well as vegetarian eateries. It was great.

When I was growing up, Indian food in New York was pretty much Northern Indian or Punjabi food, even if Bangladeshis were cooking it. Even the uptown restaurant off Central Park called Nirvana served the same menu that you saw from every takeout restaurant. When I came back there was Tamarind. Now there’s all these second- and third-generation Indians chefs becoming emboldened, cooking their own food, and bringing it to a larger audience.

In that decade after college as a model, I also traveled extensively and I had the privilege of tasting a lot of different foods. I was very much into Mediterranean food at the time. I developed a palate for really good Italian food. We would go to all of the chichi places that a ’90s model would go to: Mr. Chow, for example.

Now, I try to eat really light and simple food when I’m not eating for work. I’m always excited when I find a new restaurant, but it’s rare because I’m a creature of habit. My attitude is: If I can cook this at home, why do I need to go out? It has to be recommended by a friend who really is over the moon about it. If I want to go out with my friends, I just go to old standbys.

1/4A spread at Kabawa. Kabawa

I like chef Paul Carmichael’s approach to food, treating Caribbean food with the respect that French food gets, but without losing any of that down-home flavor. I tried every single thing on the menu and I highly recommend the goat. It’s a fairly new restaurant, but there just seemed to be a coziness. It felt very relaxed and convivial; everyone seemed to be having a good time like they knew each other already.

Pro tip: We sat at the bar and it just seemed like a fun place to hang out.

8 Extra Place, East Village. Open from 5:30 to 10 p.m., Tuesday to Saturday; closed Sunday and Monday.

I like to have meetings somewhere like Indochine or La Mercerie, established restaurants that have great food — or good enough food — really good service, and there’s a vibe. I love the decor and atmosphere at Indochine. I think it still exists because the whole package is there and I like how glamorous it feels. Restaurants that last for decades are really rare in New York.

I know the menu by heart: I always get the spring rolls, the vegetable stew, and the sea bass or amok Cambodgien. My daughter usually gets the No. 29, which is the chicken. Sometimes we’ll get the kale salad too.

Pro tip: It’s fun to people-watch here.

430 Lafayette Street, Noho. Open from 5:30 to 11:00 p.m., Sunday to Wednesday; 5:30 p.m. to 12:00 a.m., Thursday to Saturday.

1/4Semma’s nathai pirattal, a dish featuring Long Island snails, ginger, and tamarind. Molly Tavoletti/Eater

I was raised as a lacto-vegetarian because of my religion, and so I know all about vegetarian South Indian food. But frankly I didn’t know about non-vegetarian South Indian food until I became an adult. Chef Vijay Kumar actually taught me a lot about regional dishes from my own area of heritage that I had never tasted because of that barrier. My go-to order is the lobster moilee. Usually, it’s made with fish, but Vijay’s is a little bit more dressed up, rich, and delicious. I did a documentary decades ago called Planet Food where I learned to make it in Kerala, and I make it constantly at home.

Pro tip: There’s also the nathai pirattal, a dish with snails. I never knew there were any snails in Indian cuisine; I’ve only had them at places like Chez Georges, drowned in garlic, parsley, and butter. It just goes to show there’s a lot of food for me still to learn about.

60 Greenwich Avenue, Greenwich Village. Open from 5 to 10 p.m., Monday to Saturday; closed Sunday.

Il Posto Accanto serves very simple, farm-to-table Roman trattoria food. I like that it’s small and that it’s not a scene; it’s really people from the neighborhood that go there. I will go sometimes by myself and I always go for brunch. I like the feeling of camaraderie and connection, and I love the amatriciana.

Pro tip: That amatriciana is fantastic. It’s a simple dish, so there’s nowhere to hide. I loved it so much that I put it in my cookbook.

190 East 2nd Street, Lower East Side. Open from 12 p.m. to 12 a.m., Monday to Sunday.

1/4Kandaswamy Thirukumar at his dosa cart. Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet/Eater

I like going to have a dosa in Washington Square Park. I used to take my daughter to the playscape when she was young. I get a regular dosa but no masala inside, with podi on the side and chutney. It’s fresh and simple, and it’s all vegetarian.

Pro tip: What NY Dosas seems to do — and what I do with my dosa recipe — is increase the proportion of lentils to rice. It makes it a little more flavorful and nutty.

50 Washington Square South, Washington Square Park. Open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday to Saturday; closed on Sundays.

I’ve been going to Balthazar since it opened in 1997. It’s very nostalgic for me because at first, I couldn’t even get in. I didn’t even know what it was until somebody took me. Everybody has that version of New York for them. It just seemed so magical and glamorous and I felt like, Wow, this is where the nightlife is. I like that it’s the same: It’s always a crowded scene and it’s great people-watching.

It’s just regular bistro food, but we’re not looking to set the world on fire. I always get a martini and a burger; the patty isn’t too thick, and I think it’s the fries that make it so good. I don’t make burgers at home; that, to me, is just a going-out thing.

Pro tip: You don’t go to Balthazar if you want a quiet meal. The time to go is later.

80 Spring Street, Soho. Open from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m., Monday to Friday; open 9 a.m. to 12 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

$28