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The team behind Junoon has officially gone underground—literally and figuratively. Room 207, a new speakeasy-inspired cocktail bar, has quietly opened in the East Village, marking the first standalone bar from restaurateur Rajesh Bhardwaj, the force behind the Indian fine-dining institution and its sister spot Jazba.
Found at 207 2nd Avenue by 13th Street, Room 207 is intimate by design. The 26-seat bar leans into old-school Prohibition vibes—low lighting, wood paneling, leather chairs, velvet drapes and antique mirrors—without feeling like a theme-park version of the 1920s. The space was designed by Wid Chapman, whose resume includes Beekman Lounge and Semma.
Hemant Pathak, Junoon’s longtime chief mixologist and an 18-year veteran of the cocktail world, leads the bar. At Room 207, Pathak has complete creative control and the menu reflects it with its assortment of classics, forgotten drinks and reworked standards.
The most New York-specific flex comes via honey. Pathak partnered with fifth-generation urban beekeeper Andrew Coté to source honey harvested from rooftop hives in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Each borough’s honey gets its own Bee’s Knees variation, with subtle flavor differences shaped by local flora. It’s a smart, nerdy detail that makes sense in a city obsessed with provenance.
Elsewhere on the menu, there’s an Old Fashioned made with burnt butter-washed bourbon; a Flip topped with a silky hot egg foam and poured tableside over an icy base; and a boozeless Garibaldi made with a Campari-inspired reduction instead of alcohol. For guests who like a little mystery, there’s also “Enigma,” a three-cocktail preset experience that unfolds like an omakase, guided by spirit categories rather than drink names.
Chef Akshay Bhardwaj, Rajesh’s son and the executive chef at Junoon and Jazba, runs the food program, pulling inspiration from what people actually ate in bars during the 1920s and translating it for modern New York. Highlights include oysters with lemon foam and cilantro dust, truffle-laced rarebit toast and crispy potato poppers with yuzu cream. Dessert comes courtesy of Rajesh’s wife, Neena, whose trademark is a six-hour rice pudding.
Room 207 is a confident, quietly indulgent addition to the East Village bar scene—and a reminder that some of the city’s most interesting drinking is happening behind unmarked doors.