"Saffron’s well-received debut on Magazine Street was years in the making. Prior to its 2017 opening, the Vilkhu family served modern Indian food in a West Bank strip mall, on weekends only, for five years. Devoted diners eventually convinced the family to go all in on the business, and the result is a modern, dazzling space with a buzzing energy and multiple James Beard Award nominations. Among the many menu highlights, which at times fuse Indian and Louisiana cuisines or North and South Indian styles, include an outstanding curried seafood gumbo with local crabmeat and shrimp, rum-marinated lamb chops and the vegetarian roasted eggplant with coconut, peanuts and tamarind, Hyderbad style." - Beth D’Addono