Alto – CLOSED
I visited Alto last week for Restaurant Week as it was one of the restaurants I had to visit (the other two were Aureole and Mr. Chow. I did pretty good this Restaurant Week I’d say). Alto his one of Michael White‘s three New York Italian restaurants (the other two are Marea & Convivo) and all 3 have at least one Michelin Star. Alto is tucked away, hidden by the Thomas Pink store at 11 East 53rd Street so don’t worry if you don’t find the restaurant at first. A small bar and coat check are at the front of the restaurant and down the stairs are the dining rooms. The first section of seating isn’t as attractive nor as elegant looking as the seating area towards the back over looking the wall length wine cases. But none the less the design is clean and sophisticated no matter where you sit. The service is very cordial and responsible about food allergies, as a restaurant of Alto’s caliber should be. Bread is offered on a large tray with multiple options just in case you didn’t like the first type you chose before your appetizer. Since I got the Restaurant Week menu my 3 course lunch was only $24.10 as opposed to a 2 course lunch at Alto being $36. I had the Crudo as an appetizer, the Vitello (braised veal cheek) as an entree and since all the desserts had nuts on the Restaurant Week menu I had to go with sorbet. The Crudo while no larger than the size of a half dollar, was very good. The blood orange paired with the fluke perfectly and it was a good way to open up your palate for the rest of the meal. The Braised Veal Cheek was, first off a much larger portion thankfully, fantastic. The veal was moist and what Alto calls a “Tuscan Farotto”, essentially a large grain in a broth, went with the veal wonderfully to make for a great dish. The sorbet, while not a big deal, was adequate and quite frankly “it was what it was”. I was served a scoop of Pineapple, Grapefruit and another flavor which I can not recall unfortunately. Overall my experience at Alto as very good. Though I slightly preferred Marea, Alto is a good option when looking for modern Italian food.
Ambiance: 7
Food: 8
Service: 7
Overall: 7
Verdict: Oasis
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