Tag Archives: dessert

Remnants of an Alto Prix Fixe

Alto interior

Alto has closed, so here’s some postmortem food porn taken from a 4 course.

complimentary starter

After ordering the 4 course, this was presented as compliments of the chef. I assume it’s some sort of truffle appetizer.

Note: I’ve tried to correctly identify the dishes below with their menu names. The names may or may not be accurate.

Polpo alla Piastra con Baccala

seared octopus, salt cod, tomato agrodolce, culatura d’alici

Garganelli Bolognese

hand-made pasta quills, milk-fed veal ragu, parmigiano fonduta

Pappardelle con Agnello e Santoreggia

hand-made pasta ribbons, braised lamb, savory, pecorino

Tagliata di Manzo con Funghi e Midollo

creekstone farms sirloin, black trumpette mushrooms, parsnip puree, roasted fingerling potatoes, red wine-bone marrow sauce

Nodino di Vitello con I Cardi

roasted amish veal chop, cardoons, licorice, castelvetrano olives

aftermath of the sirloin

Torrone

piemontese nougat semifreddo, hazelnut cake, warm chocolate sauce

Bomboloni

apple cinnamon doughnuts, caramel sauce

Alto, given its location in Midtown East, is a prime venue for corporate dining. Formerly a Michael White / Chris Cannon joint (emphasis on the former), I expected to be blown away by the pasta dishes. Instead, I enjoyed their mushroom soup (the brown puddle of soup is not pictured above) and the Bomboloni the most.

Doughnut Plant Chelsea

Chelsea Menu

Went over to the Doughnut Plant grand opening at Chelsea Hotel. At this point, I have to confess I haven’t trekked over to their original LES location yet.

Donut plant is amazing since it shows what you can accomplish by doing one thing well. For a person like myself who is used to Krispy Kreme and generic mom & pop donut shops in CA, Doughnut Plant is an eye opener. The ingredients are premium and the price doesn’t shy away from NYC pricing (think $3 donuts).

Doughnut Pillow Wall

The Chelsea location is a decent size, especially for NYC. Seating exists as a real possibility here.

Carrot Cake Donut

The cream cheese filling made the carrot cake donut pack a much bigger punch. Cream cheese in desserts is akin to bacon in anything. Delicious.

Cinnamon Bun

Cinnamon bun was alright. More of a filler type food than the main attraction.

Oatmeal Cake

The oatmeal cake was my favorite donut from Chelsea. Flaked with oatmeal crusting, the texture is amazingly crispy. While not as healthy as a bowl of oatmeal, this donut is a great example of experimenting with nontraditional dessert toppings.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Donut

A remake of the traditional jelly donut. This guy got squared up and peanut butter topped. High in calories? You bet. Great as part of a routine diet? Yes, if it’s once a month or less.