Tag Archives: west village

Alta – West Village

17 Apr
Shortribs - Alta

Shortribs - Alta

Tapas/small plate restaurants have become extremely popular in NYC over the past few years.  Some of the top chefs in the city have embraced the tapas phenomenon and small plate staples like Casa Mono, Stanton Social and Beauty & Essex have enjoyed major success.  Last weekend, I decided to try out Alta, a tapas style restaurant in the west village with a HUGE menu of creative small plates.  I definitely recommend going to Alta with a group, as you will probably want to order every item on their delicious menu (which includes about 65 dishes priced from $5-$18 each).  In fact, they offer a special option for large groups called “the whole shebang” that includes one of every item on the menu (runs about $480).  Some of our favorites were the braised short rib served with beet-brbaresco taglierini, fresh grated and horseradish (pictured above), the fried goat cheese with lavender infused honey, and the house-made pizza with porcini cream, fontina, crimini mushrooms, fried garlic, and aleppo (whatever the hell that is).  Also make sure to try the skirt steak topped with chimichurri and parmesean potato puree (my favorite dish on the menu).  Click through to see some more pictures after the jump…

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Tremont – West Village

31 Jan

A friend and I recently met at the spotted pig to feast on what I’ve long considered the best burger in NYC.  Unfortunately, we were greeted with the usual two hour wait for a table.  We decided to forgo the miserable experience of waiting amongst the west village hipster douchebags at the bar and set out to find another restaurant nearby.  We were lucky enough to stumble upon Tremont – a small, dimly lit restaurant on the corner of bank st and west 4th.  The food was incredible and they have a great beer/wine selection (try the Anchor Brewing Christmas Ale).  I started with the polenta croutons, which are lightly fried cubes of rich polenta topped with sauteed mushrooms, parmesan cheese and herbs.  For my entree, I had the braised lamb shank (pictured above), which is served on a layer of cous cous and topped with sauteed peppers and harissa (a delicious Mediterranean spicy chile sauce).  Next time you are waiting for a table at an overcrowded west village restaurant, give Tremont a try.