New York has no shortage of restaurants where the wallpaper costs more than your first apartment. But Ambassadors Clubhouse in NoMad has something many flashy restaurants can’t fake: a genuinely personal story hiding behind all that velvet, gold and maximalism.
The Punjabi restaurant at 1245 Broadway comes from London-based JKS Restaurants, the group behind Gymkhana, but its name—and much of its inspiration—comes from someone far more important than a marketing department: the founders’ grandfather.
Here’s the obscure fact worth knowing: the “Ambassador” was actually a real diplomat whose career spanned an astonishing stretch of post-colonial history.
Born in Agra in 1910, he studied at Cambridge before returning to India, joining the Civil Service and eventually becoming India’s first Trade Commissioner for Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. He later served as India’s Consul General in Pondicherry, represented India in Malaya, became ambassador to the Netherlands, and was eventually appointed India’s first ambassador to Ireland.
So, yes, that imposing portrait hanging inside the restaurant is not just some conveniently mysterious gentleman designed to make dinner feel more important. He was the real deal.
The Sethi siblings—Jyotin, Karam and Sunaina—opened the original Ambassadors Clubhouse in London in 2024 as an homage to their grandfather. The restaurant’s interiors draw heavily from his family’s summer home in Dalhousie, India, as well as the grand, slightly forgotten party mansions of Punjab.
The NYC location opened in 2026 inside A24’s NoMad headquarters, bringing the same theatrical Punjabi dining experience to Manhattan.
And that may be the best thing to know before your next visit: Ambassadors Clubhouse isn’t merely pretending to have a backstory. It actually has one.
The gold leaf is extra. The family history isn’t.
