One Great Find

Good food, really good food, is hard to find – especially at good prices. Going out to eat can be an ordeal if one is dining on a budget, but with careful research great venues can be found that are as easy on the palate as on the wallet. Such is the case with Alta. Tucked into the lower level of a gaudy building on West 10th Street and 6th Avenue in New York , Alta makes for a perfect example of dining in style that doesn't need to burn a hole in your pocket.

Good food, really good food, is hard to find – especially at good prices. Going out to eat can be an ordeal if one is dining on a budget, but with careful research great venues can be found that are as easy on the palate as on the wallet. Such is the case with Alta. Tucked into the lower level of a gaudy building on West 10th Street and 6th Avenue in New York , Alta makes for a perfect example of dining in style that doesn't need to burn a hole in your pocket.

Alta has been a fixture in the West Village since 2003. Owners Christopher Chesnutt and Ewa Olsen created Alta as a tapas fusion restaurant with a quaint and amicable atmosphere. The list of tapas is quite long, drawing from several culinary cultures – Spain , Italy , Middle East , and more– and blending them to create wonderful flavor pairings.

Looking around the restaurant, my partner and I noticed that all patrons began their tapas adventures with the same dishes, which meant customers were either regulars or were heavily trained by those who recommended the restaurant. The predominant starter was the fried goat cheese with lavender-infused honey ($7.50). Yes, it tastes just like it sounds. The dish consisted of warm cheese balls with a thin layer of batter. The lavender-flavored honey gives it a unique floral flavor that elicits warm and tranquil feelings.

The lamb meatballs ($7) were also popular beginners, seared on the outside and placed atop butternut squash foam and garnished with sesame seeds and lebne. What Chef Harrison Mosher does so wonderfully is prepare the dishes in such a way that all flavors can be perceived individually from the strongest to the weakest.

With this outstanding tapas concept, you'd think the restaurant would invest in an extravagant décor. Instead of exhibiting that ultra-chic, decadent milieu that fusion restaurants fancy, Alta opts for a homey and bucolic look. The interior resembles a country home with sparkling wood floors and arched walls in beige hues. The first floor is divided between a hall with rows of symmetrical seating and the bar. The hall is usually crowded with chatting friends and families. The single and the hip hang along the brass rail of the rectangular bar as if they were in a Benetton commercial. The second floor offers a bit more privacy, and the tables are arranged along the mezzanine overlooking the first floor and a rustic candle chandelier.

Everything about Alta is highly organized – the food, the décor and the service. Alta's waiters are trained to explain, serve and retrieve dishes quickly. The menu comes on printed legal paper with self-explanatory descriptions that help rush you through the ordering process (they're sticklers for turnover here). The appetizers are divided into four groups, each in order of pricing. The cheapest dish costs $3 and the most expensive $15. The Whole Shebang, for $350, includes everything on the menu except the cheese platters and is perfect for groups larger than seven people.

We ordered our second set of tapas from the middle of the menu. We were hesitant to order so quickly since our mouths were still tingling with so many flavors, but we decided to order the Brussels sprouts and the frogs' legs. The Brussels sprouts ($8.50) were slightly grilled, and the crispy leaves tossed with slivers of Fuji apples and crème fraîche gave the dish an fresh, organic flavor. The frogs' legs were soaked in a delicious cauliflower and walnut purée, but failed to impress as the other powerful tapas had. For only $8, it didn't hurt to have one unimpressive dish.

The prices are indubitably the hook for this restaurant. The wine list, aside from its size, offers wines from all regions for all budgets. Red wines from Spain and Italy take up almost an entire column on the menu, with prices starting at around $30 for a 2004 Tempranillo and reaching $975 for a magnum of Vega Sicilia vintage 1983. Also available are red wines from France and Lebanon and a modest number of white wines from the

usual countries.

Despite the fact that my partner and I were already replete, to produce a more rounded review, we had to try a few more dishes. We ordered two very different dishes from the bottom of the page. The first was the crabmeat cannelloni ($10). The oversized cannelloni was generously filled with supple crabmeat and bathed in a buttery crème fraîche-verjus. The dish is fresh and light, yet filling. The duck confit ($13.00) that followed was lightly fried and garnished with tatsoi salad with frisée, whole-grain mustard and forum vinegar. The combination of fresh tatsoi and frisée leaves balanced the oily duck taste, allowing the palate to enjoy both simultaneously.

After such an original dinner, I decided to order the most inane thing on the dessert menu. The Rice Krispies treats ($8) I ordered sounded mundane enough, and I couldn't imagine what the chef had concocted out of this classic cereal. The answer was simple: nothing. The dessert consisted of thin slices of Rice Krispies squares that might have been seasoned with unperceivable candies. My partner had more luck with her chocolate fondue ($9), which was infused with almond-scented grappa and came with orange and almond biscotti. Other desserts include crema catalana ($5) and brown butter crêpes($8).

Visiting Alta just made me wonder why the local scene fails to deliver the culinary expertise and prices that Alta offers. Finding venues such as these on the Island of Enchantment is practically impossible. Those with time and money can always travel. But traveling for a cheap and fabulous meal defeats the purpose of saving money.

— Ill Divo