The Oneness-Fountain-Heart restaurant celebrates its 20th birthday

The Oneness-Fountain-Heart, a vegetarian restaurant in New York run by Sri Chinmoy's students, celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The restaurant is located in the Flushing area of Queens and over the past twenty years has welcomed locals and faraway visitors alike to enjoy its peaceful ambience and tasty food.

The restaurant was founded in March 1998 by Sri Chinmoy's students with his guidance and encouragement; he offered advice about creating a welcoming atmosphere that was light, peaceful and with a delicate touch. The restaurant aims to serve an international cuisine through natural ingredients and is dedicated to conscious living and healthy eating.

The design of the restaurant is inspired by the Japanese qualities of simplicity, subtlety and beauty while also having a sense of cosmopolitan grandeur; this international feeling is also reflected in the range of dishes. The restaurant frequently hosts themed nights, featuring concerts of meditative music and talks by special guests on subjects ranging from Thomas Jefferson to the 16th century Moghul Emperor Akbar.

The dedicated staff at The Oneness-Fountain-Heart state it is hard work, but also very rewarding due to the positive responses from the customers, who often say this is their favourite restaurant. Shashanka, who took over ownership of the restaurant in 2008, says that Sri Chinmoy's advice for running a successful restaurant has proven invaluable - maintaining a vibration of cleanliness and purity, plus a feeling of concern and warmth to all the customers who come to the restaurant.

As Sri Chinmoy said at the opening of the restaurant: "As much as possible, make the customers feel that they are guests — they have not come just to make a business transaction. Try to make them feel at home.”

Restaurant website...

Related

• Enterprises run by Sri Chinmoy's students around the world 
• First steps: Shashanka talks about how he came to Sri Chinmoy's path