Alta

I went to Alta with Gabe and his family for his birthday last night. It was an enjoyable and festive meal over small plates and LETHAL sangrias. I don't know what they put in those sangrias (though obviously lots of extra liquor), but just one glass definitely gets you going for the night. Sadly, I have no pictures from last night, but two of my girl friends actually want to go there next Saturday, so maybe I'll get a chance to take some then.

It's easy to call this place a tapas restaurant since it's all small plates, but it's technically not since it's not centered around Spanish food. It's mostly Mediterranean foods with other stuff thrown in. Many of the plates were pretty small, and they certainly added up in price quickly, but I think most of the dishes were pretty interesting. Some of the ones I enjoyed a lot:

-Fried goat cheese with lavender-infused honey: This is by far my favorite fried goat cheese that I've ever tried, and actually the cheapest. (It's double the price for the same amount of goat cheese balls at Sala and a few dollars more for tiny cheese balls at Son Cubano, so in my eyes, this was a value) I love the lavender-infused honey. There also seemed to be some herbs inside the cheese.

-Bacon-wrapped dates: Another good example of bacon mixed with something sweet (Read previous post). Unfortunately, I think this only came with 5 or 6 pieces. I could've munched on plenty of these.

-Truffle Tagliatelle with foie gras emulsion, currants, and micro arugula: I liked the sweetness of this pasta from the currants. I could've eaten a normal size portion of this. My one complaint is that for small plates, I still think the pasta portion should've been bigger since it's meant to be shared.

-Crispy brussel sprouts with fuji apples, creme fraiche, and pistachio nuts: I normally would never eat brussel sprouts, but since it seemed like everyone talks about these in reviews, we wanted to try them, and wow they were really good. Very crispy and tasty.

-Skirt steak with chimmichurri sauce: The sauce gave it a nice touch.

We ordered a lot of other things, but those were the ones I personally enjoyed the most. I think this is a fun place to go to when you want a fun and festive atmosphere. Tapas/small plates are meant to be for big groups, so it's nice that this place is actually meant for groups and parties unlike many of the good tapas places in the city. Perhaps my one complaint is the inconsistency between portions and price. Some things were a fair value (i.e. lamb meatballs, fried goat cheese, crispy brussel sprouts). Other things were way too small for the price (i.e. pork empanadas, sea scallops).

However, since I plan on returning next week, that's obviously a good sign.