Alter
Better sit down for this one. It's a doozy.
Alter. This restaurant has received a massive amount of hype since it's opened. Definitely not for the regular eater, this place is especially popular with the top chefs in the city. Universally praised, it's been begging me from my restaurant list for too long. First, let's begin with how we got there: After finally resolving that it was time to go, I find out that you need to make a reservation about a week in advance, if not longer for primetime, if you want a table. Needing a reservation that far out caused me to push back my mental calendar entry for when to get there, but eventually I got a table for 7 pm, our preferred dinner time, on April 29th.
Little did I know the significance of that time. As we come up to the front door with one couple waiting outside (memorable for the funky haircut on one of them), the host came out to us to as we arrived at 7 pm sharp to inform us that he would need another 1-2 minutes as they were putting the finishing touches a few dishes and were not quite ready to open. For, as we found out, this restaurant is only open 30 hours per week: Tuesday through Saturday, 12-2 and 7-11. This partly explains the need for a reservation and greatly underscores how well they are doing (i.e. They can do that much business in that little time to make it worth their while). Nonetheless, after a short 45 second wait, our host came back out and, lucky us, seated Lauren and I as the first guests in the temple... err, restaurant... in arguable the best seats: the corner table in the front of the restaurant with a great view of the remainder of the restaurant and the kitchen. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of the interior, but here is a good picture from the Internet. Our table is off in the corner to the right outside the frame.
We were the first seated in the restaurant, but it was packed by 715, if not earlier. I can definitely say they do no walk ins on Fridays and, I suspect, at any time.
But what to drink? Suffice it to say, the mixologists here are at the very top of their game. The cocktail menu demonstrates as much:
But, to heck, this wouldn't be much of an email without text. So, what's we get? Lauren got a Bob Thai Coconut. Incredibly fresh flavors and an excellent execution. A refreshing coconut cousin to the mule. And highly recommended: would recommend going just for this drink. (Which, you can, and without a reservation: they have an outdoor bar that seats a decent number of people and, as far as I can tell, is all walk in.). I started with the Bandit: Woodford Reserve bourbon simmered with shiitake mushrooms and cacao nibs and served neat with a little maple syrup and what I believe was a Bing cherry. An elevated take on an Old Fashioned, with the cacao nibs really shining through.
That was the easiest decision of the night. Now, you take a look at the menu, and you realize just how beyond the norm this restaurant is operating in. I was under the impression that I have a very good restaurant vocabulary, but even I had a difficult time understanding the menu. Hell, just writing this email, I've had to google several items just to make sure I was making sense.
Vetrano olive snow? Sea scallop espuma? Umami butter? Shoyu hollandaise? Tom kha risotto? I understand some words, but failed to grasp the significance of the phrase altogether. However, these were all components in dishes we eventually ordered. And in retrospect, you can't make a bad decision here. Nonetheless, at the time, we turned to the wait staff, who was more than knowledgable on the menu and gladly guided us. (Although I usually do not usually address, the wait staff was excellent. Although casually dressed to fit the decor, they were exceptionally trained and had a high staff to guest ratio. For example, I believe there was one guy whose sole job was to bring you fresh silverware, as that's important in a place like this. And he did so constantly despite the fact it only has 38 seats).
To start, I ordered the shaved cobia. Thin slices of raw cobia mixed with seaweed (aka sea vegetable aka sea lettuce), peppers, and rice mixed with masago (fish roe). The vetrano olive snow, also on top, consists of frozen olives which have been shaved a la snow cone into an olive ice slush. And I still don't know what garlic dashi is. A light dish, with the flavors, textures and temperatures (olive snow cold, fish cool) well balanced. An excellent dish and highly recommended.
And as you can see, they're big on plating. And before moving on, I would point out that the silverware guy came by before the dish was served and provided me with a very nice pair of reusable chopsticks, rather than disposable. Even at Black Brick, they gave me disposable chopsticks.
Lauren ordered the soft egg. A menu favorite, let's start by describing its construction, which the menu fails to mention. A poached egg is placed in the bottom of a bowl. A... the word is escaping me: take shredded Gruyere, form in a thin disk, and pan fry to crispy. Take that and put it on the egg. And on top of that, 3/4" of sea scallop foam, mixed with chives and actual black truffles. The suggested eating instructions (and you need instructions for any dish turning seafood into seafoam) were to use a spoon, and go straight down, breaking through the Gruyere and getting to the egg.
Good lord. This is one of those dishes where the first bite makes you want to sit down before you faint. Fortunately, you already are, but it nonetheless is an overwhelming experience. It's so good, it interrupts essentially every train of thought and things in the back of your mind to focus you solely and entirely on the dining experience. It is, I am confident to say, one of the top 10 dishes I have ever had.
I'm only halfway through and I'm exhausted. This would be a good time to break from reading before I resume.
The last starter we ordered was the bread and beurre. The crust was crusty and heavily spiced from the sumac and dill seed. The interior though was incredibly fine and soft, like the angel food cake of bread. The umami butter was mysterious and delicious.
For our main courses, Lauren ordered the duck breast. The breast was coated in a cardamom, cashew, and lime seasoning and cooked to perfection. The seasoning formed a beautiful crust and complemented the duck, which was exceptionally moist. Frankly, I thought it tasted like an excellent salami which had been briefly panfried (and I mean this as a compliment). The duck was topped with shaved broccoli stem. It also came with a side of risotto which was made in the style of tom kha, a traditional Thai soup. Think coconut milk, ginger, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves. And topped with walnuts. It was excellent. And bright green.
I ordered the grouper cheeks. Literally the meat off the grouper's head, they are prized by those who know they exist. (Which was not me until this meal). On a bed of black rice (itself prepared in a fantastic, but unknown method) the sous vide cheeks were placed, covered in a shoyu hollandaise, and topped with a nori foam and sea lettuces. Bits of cucumber and chili garnish the dish, including those cute little towers on the side. Is that a smiley face?
Good lord not again. Look, I really can't handle two top 10 dishes in one meal. And yet, here we were yet again entirely upending the scale on what made a fantastic dish. I'll avoid repeating myself and say the usual symptoms manifested themselves, including a complete failure to focus on anything other than this dish.
Whew!
As we made our way through the meal, I decided to have another drink. Now, I personally, after trying Manhattans many times, have decided I don't care for them. There are better preparations for that whiskey. But, this was a place to make an outstanding Manhattan if there was one. So I ordered it.
It was excellent. Certainly the best Manhattan I've ever had, but fortunately still a ways off from the top drinks I've had, as I doubted I could handle another one of those in this meal.
Are we at dessert yet? This is certainly my longest review.
Oh, yes we are. Lauren ordered the pavlova. Black lime granita. Kalamansi curd. Cilantro. Mandarin olive oil. This isn't your grandmother's pavlova. Lauren ate most of it and assures me it was excellent.
Oh yeah, that light green thing is olive oil snow. Yeah.
I ordered the peanut shell gelato. Gelato rolled in spent coffee and cacao nibs. Two pieces of bananas foster. This fancy chocolate thing on top. It was excellent. Don't know what the moon rocks were, but I stopped caring at some point.
And that was all we ordered. Not that it stopped them. When they returned with my card and the receipt for signature, they also brought two small mignardise as an end of meal cleanser. I didn't take a photo and can't find one online, but they were essentially two very small gelatinous rectangles with a clean, neutral flavor which escapes me right now.
Speaking of paying, it's not cheap (obviously). I had planned to use your gift card from Christmas, which we had only had one meal on. But, while it would cover the bill, it wouldn't cover tip, so I just paid for it directly. But it was worth the cost. Given the absolutely outstanding food, this ended up being a very high value meal, in the sense of a great bargain. On the other hand, I also have to note that given those two top 10 dishes and every other excellent or better dish, this was undoubtedly the best meal I've ever had.
But what to drink? Suffice it to say, the mixologists here are at the very top of their game. The cocktail menu demonstrates as much:
But, to heck, this wouldn't be much of an email without text. So, what's we get? Lauren got a Bob Thai Coconut. Incredibly fresh flavors and an excellent execution. A refreshing coconut cousin to the mule. And highly recommended: would recommend going just for this drink. (Which, you can, and without a reservation: they have an outdoor bar that seats a decent number of people and, as far as I can tell, is all walk in.). I started with the Bandit: Woodford Reserve bourbon simmered with shiitake mushrooms and cacao nibs and served neat with a little maple syrup and what I believe was a Bing cherry. An elevated take on an Old Fashioned, with the cacao nibs really shining through.
That was the easiest decision of the night. Now, you take a look at the menu, and you realize just how beyond the norm this restaurant is operating in. I was under the impression that I have a very good restaurant vocabulary, but even I had a difficult time understanding the menu. Hell, just writing this email, I've had to google several items just to make sure I was making sense.
Vetrano olive snow? Sea scallop espuma? Umami butter? Shoyu hollandaise? Tom kha risotto? I understand some words, but failed to grasp the significance of the phrase altogether. However, these were all components in dishes we eventually ordered. And in retrospect, you can't make a bad decision here. Nonetheless, at the time, we turned to the wait staff, who was more than knowledgable on the menu and gladly guided us. (Although I usually do not usually address, the wait staff was excellent. Although casually dressed to fit the decor, they were exceptionally trained and had a high staff to guest ratio. For example, I believe there was one guy whose sole job was to bring you fresh silverware, as that's important in a place like this. And he did so constantly despite the fact it only has 38 seats).
To start, I ordered the shaved cobia. Thin slices of raw cobia mixed with seaweed (aka sea vegetable aka sea lettuce), peppers, and rice mixed with masago (fish roe). The vetrano olive snow, also on top, consists of frozen olives which have been shaved a la snow cone into an olive ice slush. And I still don't know what garlic dashi is. A light dish, with the flavors, textures and temperatures (olive snow cold, fish cool) well balanced. An excellent dish and highly recommended.
And as you can see, they're big on plating. And before moving on, I would point out that the silverware guy came by before the dish was served and provided me with a very nice pair of reusable chopsticks, rather than disposable. Even at Black Brick, they gave me disposable chopsticks.
Lauren ordered the soft egg. A menu favorite, let's start by describing its construction, which the menu fails to mention. A poached egg is placed in the bottom of a bowl. A... the word is escaping me: take shredded Gruyere, form in a thin disk, and pan fry to crispy. Take that and put it on the egg. And on top of that, 3/4" of sea scallop foam, mixed with chives and actual black truffles. The suggested eating instructions (and you need instructions for any dish turning seafood into seafoam) were to use a spoon, and go straight down, breaking through the Gruyere and getting to the egg.
Good lord. This is one of those dishes where the first bite makes you want to sit down before you faint. Fortunately, you already are, but it nonetheless is an overwhelming experience. It's so good, it interrupts essentially every train of thought and things in the back of your mind to focus you solely and entirely on the dining experience. It is, I am confident to say, one of the top 10 dishes I have ever had.
I'm only halfway through and I'm exhausted. This would be a good time to break from reading before I resume.
The last starter we ordered was the bread and beurre. The crust was crusty and heavily spiced from the sumac and dill seed. The interior though was incredibly fine and soft, like the angel food cake of bread. The umami butter was mysterious and delicious.
For our main courses, Lauren ordered the duck breast. The breast was coated in a cardamom, cashew, and lime seasoning and cooked to perfection. The seasoning formed a beautiful crust and complemented the duck, which was exceptionally moist. Frankly, I thought it tasted like an excellent salami which had been briefly panfried (and I mean this as a compliment). The duck was topped with shaved broccoli stem. It also came with a side of risotto which was made in the style of tom kha, a traditional Thai soup. Think coconut milk, ginger, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves. And topped with walnuts. It was excellent. And bright green.
I ordered the grouper cheeks. Literally the meat off the grouper's head, they are prized by those who know they exist. (Which was not me until this meal). On a bed of black rice (itself prepared in a fantastic, but unknown method) the sous vide cheeks were placed, covered in a shoyu hollandaise, and topped with a nori foam and sea lettuces. Bits of cucumber and chili garnish the dish, including those cute little towers on the side. Is that a smiley face?
Good lord not again. Look, I really can't handle two top 10 dishes in one meal. And yet, here we were yet again entirely upending the scale on what made a fantastic dish. I'll avoid repeating myself and say the usual symptoms manifested themselves, including a complete failure to focus on anything other than this dish.
Whew!
As we made our way through the meal, I decided to have another drink. Now, I personally, after trying Manhattans many times, have decided I don't care for them. There are better preparations for that whiskey. But, this was a place to make an outstanding Manhattan if there was one. So I ordered it.
It was excellent. Certainly the best Manhattan I've ever had, but fortunately still a ways off from the top drinks I've had, as I doubted I could handle another one of those in this meal.
Are we at dessert yet? This is certainly my longest review.
Oh, yes we are. Lauren ordered the pavlova. Black lime granita. Kalamansi curd. Cilantro. Mandarin olive oil. This isn't your grandmother's pavlova. Lauren ate most of it and assures me it was excellent.
Oh yeah, that light green thing is olive oil snow. Yeah.
I ordered the peanut shell gelato. Gelato rolled in spent coffee and cacao nibs. Two pieces of bananas foster. This fancy chocolate thing on top. It was excellent. Don't know what the moon rocks were, but I stopped caring at some point.
And that was all we ordered. Not that it stopped them. When they returned with my card and the receipt for signature, they also brought two small mignardise as an end of meal cleanser. I didn't take a photo and can't find one online, but they were essentially two very small gelatinous rectangles with a clean, neutral flavor which escapes me right now.
Speaking of paying, it's not cheap (obviously). I had planned to use your gift card from Christmas, which we had only had one meal on. But, while it would cover the bill, it wouldn't cover tip, so I just paid for it directly. But it was worth the cost. Given the absolutely outstanding food, this ended up being a very high value meal, in the sense of a great bargain. On the other hand, I also have to note that given those two top 10 dishes and every other excellent or better dish, this was undoubtedly the best meal I've ever had.
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