Junoon

Diners could be forgiven for mistaking Junoon for a royal mansion. The gourmet Indian restaurant’s layered light fixtures cast a soft, amber glow on the dining room, where vine-shaped sandstone sculptures and floating lotus blossoms catch the eye. Even the building’s façade, composed of hand-chiseled limestone, emanates lushness. And restaurant lovers have taken note of the restaurant’s gorgeous layout, with the New York Times declaring that “everyone looks good” and that “[l]ittle expense has been spared to make sure that this is the case.” New York Magazine proclaims that “[i]f you don’t believe that the parched postrecession restaurant landscape is slowly returning to the kind of lush boom-era opulence that New Yorkers are used to, then I suggest you book a table at the new Indian dining palace in the Flatiron district called Junoon.” The ambience isn’t the only thing that diners rave about; the cuisine earned a Michelin star in 2012 and was recently served at a fundraising dinner for President Barack Obama. Chefs cook exclusively with locally sourced meat, fish, and poultry, with the philosophy that each flavor should be respected. They have a spice room where diners can examine the seasonings that go into their entrees, which range from curries to shrimp to quail, and the chefs use all five elements of Indian cooking, preparing food in clay ovens, on griddles, and over open pits of lava.