Saffron - CLOSED

[cjsadler]

I missed out on Edward Kim at his reported best (Soigne in Baltimore) and worst (Merkado in DC). Dinner last night at Saffron made me regret never getting to Soigne, rather than being thankful I didn't try Merkado. Saffron was open before Kim as some sort of Indian-fusion place that I walked past dozens of times. He's changed the menu to "Modern American", with an Asian influence and only a few nods to the Latin fusion stuff he was trying at Merkado. What really made the dishes we had noteworthy was the spicing, in the sense of "I can't quite figure out what this is I'm tasting, but it's damn delicious". There was a bit too much use of cinnamon, though, as it was in probably half the savory dishes we had (They must have gotten a deal on a 50lb cannister of cinnamon powder or something). The standouts of what I tasted were a cinnamon, cumin, and brown sugar (I think?) spiced rack of lamb, pork loin accompanied by an incredible potato hash made with who-knows-what ingredients, and a duck confit and truffle risotto (extremely rich, though).

Prices aren't listed on the website, but the apps are $9-$14 and the entrees average $25. Decent wine prices (we drank a Kermit Lynch Ch. du Trignon Cotes du Rhone).

[crackers]

CLOSED