Everyone has local favorites for different occasions — a casual joint to grab a lite-bite, a good bar to meet friends for happy hour, a restaurant with nice décor and great food to host friends from out of town, or a place for larger dinner parties that don’t require reservations thirty days in advance. Luckily for me, my favorite neighborhood restaurant, Alta, fits the bill for all of the above.
Located on the south side of 10th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, and across from Piadina, Alta is slightly hidden. No prominent signs identify the restaurant, tucked away in a brownstone on one of Manhattan’s most beautiful residential streets. Once inside, you can hang out at the long accommodating bar. Or further in, you can dine in an unsuspectedly large and open, two-level dining area. The kitchen is upstairs, and there is another smaller, quaint dining room through the kitchen that overlooks 10th street — discreet and charming.
The owners, husband and wife team, Christopher Chesnutt and Ewa Olsen, have beautifully executed their vision of a Spanish-inspired small-plates restaurant. And Chef Harrison Mosher really brings to life the exquisite delicacies that he deems New York cuisine with a Spanish soul.
Harrison and his team are constantly playing and experimenting with new creations. The menu changes frequently, but staple favorites are always available. Two of mine are the crispy Brussels sprouts and Danish pork ribs. However, I am such a fan of the entire menu — old or new — that I am always up for “The Whole Shebang”: “That’s right, folks, everything on the menu.” And yes, I have had The Whole Shebang, which easily feeds eight.
The success of Alta is in its pursuit of what’s really good. The food and wine are stellar, the atmosphere pleasant and relaxing. Alta doesn’t aim to solicit publicity or be on the trendy forefront of New York’s dining scene. There’s no faux philosophy or rigid mission statements. When you are comfortable in your own skin, things come more naturally, and that’s the feeling here at Alta. Their customers appreciate their lack of pretense and fall in love with the good eats each time they visit — at least I do.
I hope you enjoy some of the small plates that I am sharing with you this month, but remember the menu does change! So don’t be afraid to try different things. That’s the spirit of small plates, try everything!
A. Alta
As you are well aware by now, I am a bottarga (dried and pressed fish roe) fiend, and I love spaghetti with bottarga. Alta currently has a grey mullet bottarga spaghetti with fragrant shrimp oil and a hint of peperoncino for added heat. Rather than shavings of the bottarga, this version has thin slices of gorgeous... full article
B. Alta
The Brussels sprouts are always on the menu at Alta and they are one of the restaurant’s signature dishes. Their success speaks to chef Harrison Mosher’s talent — he has made a loathed vegetable into a best selling item. What’s the secret? Deep fry the sprouts, add some apple cider reduction to make them taste caramelized,... full article
C. Alta
Tuna tataki (seared tuna) is a great choice on the menu because it’s light, healthy, and yummy. Small cubes of delicately seared tuna sit in a cloud of cantaloupe foam. The juxtaposition of the sweet fruit, savory tuna and caviar is not overpowering in the least. If anything, the strongest flavor comes from the proscuitto flakes. But because... full article
D. Alta
This bistilla (layers of phyllo dough with spiced meat inside) is just dreamy! Using chicken confit for the meat ensures the richest of flavors. The chicken is tender and succulent and the scrambled eggs truly creamy (really well scrambled eggs are not easy to find). Added into the mix are sweet, dried... full article
E. Alta
For such a heavy meat and pasta dish, the final outcome of this braised oxtail ravioli is surprisingly light and delightful. It could have something to do with the porcini foam, which though rich in flavor lends an ethereal quality to the dish. But besides that, the strips of preserved lemon peel add a refreshing citrus... full article
F. Alta
It’s really difficult to master the frying technique of tempura, but Alta seems to have done it. Tempura should be light and crisp. You’d expect this deep-fried oyster dish to be greasy and heavy, like the breaded deep-fried oysters we are accustomed to eating, but it is not. The tempura oysters are surrounded by a sea of... full article
G. Alta
Since it’s a small plate, the arancini (Sicilian rice balls) are bite-sized. They are deep-fried to croquette-like perfection and gooey inside. Bits of bacon accent the rice with decided flavor. Adorably, a tiny fried quail’s egg tops each ball. For garnish, slices of pickled Guindilla peppers add a little accent of spice and... full article
