Restaurant Review: Alta

On Friday evening I tried Alta for the first time. Alta is located in the West Village and is one of those restaurants that you wouldn't know it was there if you didn't know it was there. Nestled on the quiet W 10th St. block between 5th and 6th Avenues, this is a restaurant I would define as a "hidden gem" - the type of place you visit for an intimate dinner with great friends.

When entering Alta you're greeted by a long, narrow bar area. On a Friday night it was quite crowded by young professionals getting a head start on the weekend. I imagine that on a Saturday night it's a little more quiet and inhabited by couples. From the bar I tried the sangria, which isn't offered by the pitcher because of its strength. This seemed curious to me at first, but after finishing a glass I could definitely understand why. It was delicious.

(via http://tasteshop.wordpress.com/)

Beyond the bar the mezzanine-style dining room awaits, complete with a welcoming, rustic decor and extremely dim lighting (thus the lack of photos in this post, sorry!). We really lucked out with our table, which was situated in the rear of the first floor, right in front a grande fireplace. Perfect for a cold, wintery night, and even more perfect as the gathering place for four friends eager to catch up after more than 6 months apart. 

Second to the company, the food was the best part about the evening. The expansive tapas menu is just Spanish enough, offering nearly 50 dishes ranging from simple (and non-simple) vegetarian to the most adventurous of ingredients (for me it doesn't get any more adventurous than Sea Urchin). Bottom line: there is something for everyone on this menu, and because it's tapas you're able to try a little of everything. In fact, if you want to try everything you can do so for a whopping $420. The dishes we tried are listed at the bottom of this post.

In addition to the 12 dishes we tried for dinner, we opted in for the beignets and bread pudding for dessert. I did not care for either, and would suggest skipping dessert in exchange for one or two additional dinner items.

All in all Alta was a great experience and a restaurant that I highly recommend. I definitely plan to visit again, particularly with other non-NYC friends or even with my parents.

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Here's what we tried (favorites in red):

• Crostini of house cured duck breast with ricotta, sundried tomato, orange and truffle honey
• Dip duo of smoked eggplant with za'tar and honey, and chickpea with piquillo peppers and scallions 
• Fried goat cheese with lavender infused honey 
• Lamb meatballs with spiced butternut squash foam, toasted sesame seeds and lebne 
• Crispy brussels sprouts with Granny Smith apples, creme fraiche and pistachios 
• Avocado relleno with crabmeat and shrimp frisee, and orange segments
• Seared sea scallops with parsley root puree, apple cider vinegar "caviar," chorizo oil and black olives
• Seared foie gras on pan toasted brioche with mango ginger chutney, Persian pistachios and bee pollen
• Pulled pork empenadas with sweet and spicy cilantro dipping sauce
• Warm crab salad with crispy quinoa and truffle jalapeno emulsion
• Sweet potato ravioli  in a brown butter, hazelnut, aleppo pepper, sage emulsion
• Skirt steak with chimichurri and parmesan potato puree, and haricot vert and tomato salad