 |
Atera
New York, NY
77 WORTH ST.
212-246-1444
HTTP://ATERANYC.COM/
We are not at all surprised that this restaurant is our highest-ranking new entry in 2013. Matt Lightner – with a resume including stints at Mugaritz and Noma, and a stretch running his own kitchen at Portland’s Castagna (where he snagged a Food & Wine Best New Chef Award,) – was poised to open a serious restaurant. Enter Jodi Richard, who in looking for someone to reconstitute the shuttered Compose, had the good sense to put Lightner in charge of the project. One reviewer described Atera as “the love child of elBulli, Noma and Stone Barns,” while another spoke of Lightner’s “outstanding skills and great culinary sense of humor.” Among the dishes mentioned by reviewers include a lardo ravioli filled with shad roe, peas, mustard seed and nasturtium, and a garlic scape described as being “like an organ meat crème brulee.” But be forewarned, the experience is not for everyone; some people spoke of “multiple dishes featuring bitter flavors.” |
 |
