{"id":374972,"date":"2026-04-04T16:40:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T16:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/374972\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T16:40:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T16:40:20","slug":"new-yorks-most-talked-about-new-indian-restaurant-ambassadors-clubhouse-resembles-a-maximalist-forgotten-party-mansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/374972\/","title":{"rendered":"New York\u2019s Most Talked-About New Indian Restaurant, Ambassadors Clubhouse, Resembles a Maximalist \u201cForgotten Party Mansion\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Estimated3 min read<\/p>\n

Above: The ground-floor bar, edged in marquetry, sits beneath a hand-painted ceiling mural inspired by the scalloped vaults of the Taj Falaknuma Palace.<\/p>\n

When diners step inside Ambassadors Clubhouse New York<\/a>, the new Indian restaurant from London\u2019s JKS Restaurants (Gymkhana, Berenjak, Brigadiers), they\u2019ll be struck by the space\u2019s maximalism. But this is not maximalism for spectacle\u2019s sake. Every surface is layered, every detail considered. It is maximalism with lineage\u2014an interior built from history, culture, craft, and a deeply personal family archive. \u201cI can\u2019t do a blank wall anymore,\u201d says Karam Sethi, co-owner of JKS. \u201cEvery surface has something to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since opening, Ambassadors Clubhouse has become one of those rare restaurants where the room and the menu arrive with equal ambition. The kitchen draws from the royal courts and street eateries of North India\u2019s Punjab, while the interior, designed by London\u2019s North End Design, takes inspiration from equally rich references.<\/p>\n

\"ElegantAVABLU<\/p>\n

Bathed in warm light, the downstairs dining room unfolds as a glowing jewel box of pattern, texture, and intimacy.<\/p>\n

JKS stands for siblings Jyotin, Karam, and Sunaina Sethi, and Ambassadors Clubhouse is, in many ways, their most personal project. The restaurant draws from their childhood summers spent in the homes of their grandfather, an Indian ambassador whose postings took the family from Delhi to Amsterdam, Nairobi, Ireland, and Dalhousie. \u201cFor the first 16 years of our lives, every summer was spent in those homes,\u201d Karam says.<\/p>\n

Those residences were shaped as much by domesticity as they were diplomacy, and by their grandmother, who curated the interiors with a collector\u2019s instinct. \u201cShe ran the house,\u201d Karam adds. \u201cShe designed everything and collected pieces from all over the world.\u201d The restaurant, in turn, is reminiscent of those spaces\u2014less a recreation than a continuation.<\/p>\n

\"ElegantAVABLU<\/p>\n

Paintings by Punjabi artists from across the diaspora bring a personal, contemporary layer to the restaurant\u2019s richly detailed rooms.<\/p>\n

On the ground floor, the central bar, edged in intricate marquetry, takes its cues from furniture in the family\u2019s Delhi and Dalhousie homes. Surrounding that anchor, silver-leaf\u2013inlaid tables catch the light; leather wallcoverings, some subtly embossed with animal patterns, nod to the traditions of Indian clubs and hunting lodges; custom carpeting draws on Indian rug traditions.<\/p>\n

The ceiling is inspired by the scalloped vault of the Taj Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad, reimagined as a hand-painted mural by scenic artist Mike Langley, with motifs from the Ambassadors Clubhouse crest set within each scallop. Stripes and columns on the walls reference the facade of the Uch Sharif tomb in Punjab. The overall effect comes together to create what Karam calls a \u201cforgotten party mansion\u201d\u2014a space that feels less designed than accumulated.<\/p>\n

\"ElegantlyAVABLU<\/p>\n

Mirrored panels multiply light and detail across the richly set tables.<\/p>\n

Downstairs, the mood shifts. The Jungli Room\u2014named after a Hindi and Punjabi word meaning \u201cwild\u201d\u2014introduces a more playful, textural sensibility, with animal-inspired fabrics and alabaster lighting. The Raja Rani Room, a private dining space named for the owners\u2019 grandparents, offers a more intimate setting, though it doesn\u2019t skimp on the grandeur with its green tones, upholstered ceiling, Indian-made tiles, and gold-leaf mirrors. Throughout the lower level, coffered ceilings wrapped in classic Victorian wallcoverings like Lincrusta and Anaglypta were painted, beaded, and hand-finished by scenic artists. Fabrics sourced and produced in India line walls and ceilings alike, complemented by custom Art Deco crystal fixtures.<\/p>\n

\"ElegantAVABLU<\/p>\n

The Jungli Room layers animal-inspired textures to create an intimate, cocooned dining space.<\/p>\n

Throughout the restaurant, the walls feature Punjabi art\u2014British, Canadian, and French Punjabi\u2014reinforcing the project\u2019s cultural specificity. \u201cPunjabi culture is hyper-regional,\u201d Karam notes. \u201cEven recipes change house to house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ambassadors Clubhouse, maximalism is immersive but never overwhelming, theatrical without feeling staged. It is about how objects, materials, and memory accumulate over time\u2013creating spaces that feel distinctly residential than overtly commercial. Says Karam, \u201cIt should feel like a house.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Special Projects Editor William Li is the founder of art consultancy Armature Projects and the Emmy-nominated co-host of Lucky Chow, a series about Asian food and culture on PBS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"3 min read Above: The ground-floor bar, edged in marquetry, sits beneath a hand-painted ceiling mural inspired by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374973,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2139,179944,637,146,85,46,1975,149500,179943,148122],"class_list":{"0":"post-374972","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-content-type-feature","9":"tag-contentid-a4e38f09-db63-4814-a0d0-7c0138711081","10":"tag-displaytype-standard-article","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-il","13":"tag-israel","14":"tag-locale-us","15":"tag-read_time-3","16":"tag-shorttitle-maximalism-meets-memory-at-ambassadors-clubhouse","17":"tag-subsection-food-drink"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374972\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}