The chefs at Saffron Indian Cuisine & Bar believe Indian cooking is built around three main factors: ingredients, proportions, and timing. It’s a blueprint they've based on generations of family recipes, with which they never stop experimenting. Thus, like a crash-test dummy with a love for avant-garde fashion, the restaurant does not shy away from taking risks. Diners reap the benefits when they savor such house specialties as sutra lamb, which features boneless pieces of lamb cooked with ginger, onion, garlic, and yogurt.

Trial and error aside, Saffron's kitchen staff does abide to many traditional forms of Indian cooking as well. It uses tandoori ovens, for instance, to prepare dishes such as mirchi tikka, a spicy combination of chicken, cayenne, and lime. Fourteen vegetarian entrees, nine of which are vegan, and build-your-own curry dishes arrive atop tables bedecked with tangerine-hued cloths. Rich, fringed red curtains surround the dining area and capture the light flickering from tabletop lanterns.