Junoon--An experience with master Chef Vikas Khanna

Indiblogger and Masterchef Vikas Khanna hosted the first International meet for Indian bloggers. This was my first time experience attending any bloggers meet. I met some exceptional bloggers and this was an truly awesome experience. The Meet was supposed to be around 11 AM, some of us were right on time, so we started a quick introduction amongst ourselves with a nice coffee, the bloggers had no clue about the agenda and we jumped to the introducing ourselves, that is what happens when you have a bunch of chatterboxes. Junoon's Lounge area seemed a perfect setting for our Hello's and we kind of took off like we have been friends forever.

 The restaurant is done very beautifully interpreting the open kitchen concept. True to it's name , Chef Khanna, drives the restaurant and his crew with a passion/junoon for food and fine dining. The interiors and the ambiance is top notch and the chef takes a keen interest in all aspects of entertaining. For his stature, he is used to attending to President of the USA, NY Mayor and enumerable business and political head honchos, he left no stones entertaining a bunch of bloggers. A very simple and humble chef. One thing I would say is all he knows is cooking good food, Kind of a Fakir chef, whose junoon is only cooking and serving home cooked food.

Few Important things to note about Junoon is that IT HAS NO FREEZER. They cook from scratch every day, chopping, making chutneys, making curries, even their meat is organic and free range. All leftover food is donated to a NY food bank. I am a vegetarian, so I opted for vegetarian menu, being a non drinker, wine was also not in my review. I am sure there will be many reviews on Junoon which will be more complete. Another interesting thing was their light and temperature controlled spice room, which was full of exotic spices, which Chef Khanna handpicks travelling all over the world. He really is passionate about what spices and kind of spices he has in his trove. This room is on display and Chef Khanna is more than willing to give you a tour of the spice world.

 Some things were unique at the meet were unique blog name contest and the one with the most unique name won $50 from Indi and Junoon team. Another was a soup tasting contest where Chef Khanna had  created a soup with unusual combination of ingredients. I missed by one ingredient, the prize was his own autographed cook book. Maybe next time I will be lucky. It's the second time I have missed winning that book. Pray that the third time will prove lucky for me.

Overall, I had  a fun lunch with good food and smart bloggers, meeting Indibloggers and Thanks again for the Inditeam specially Anoop and Diana for making this possible. They both were really working non stop looking after us and making us comfortable. I apologize for the early exit, but life at times gets better than us, I am really sorry that I missed the fabulous round of desserts.


Junoon restaurant Location;
27 W 24TH ST
NEW YORK, NY 10010

 Starters

 Main Course

Intresting Collection

Spice Room at Junoon.

Well, what can I ask for more. This was beyond words and I am already waiting for another Indimeet. Not Just for the food but overall this was one of the cherished experiences of my life.

 Leaving you with some fun filled memories, Courtesy Panfusine