The Ayurveda Cafe, New York

Ayurvedic dishes are more than simply vegetarian. They embrace an Indian principle known as sattva, the pursuit of achieving purity and good health through dietary harmony. Every sattvic meal incorporates a balance of six tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, astringent, and pungent.

Ayurveda Cafe more than covers all six of those flavors, serving trays loaded with 10 items that collectively create a sattvic meal. Though the menu changes daily, a meal typically includes an appetizer, two vegetable entrees, bread or lentils, brown or basmati rice, assorted chutneys, and salad, raita, and dessert. If some of these prove a bit too spicy, diners can douse their mouths with a creamy mango-banana lassi, a cup of organic tea, or a high-pressure fire hose.