New York City: Atera (August 2016)

My spouse and I visited Atera for dinner on a Saturday evening in mid-August 2016. Atera is open for dinner on Tuesdays through Saturdays (closed on Sundays and Mondays). We made a reservation online using the Open Table system, and we were required to enter our credit card number in order to hold our booking. In the event of an emergency, you can cancel up to 72 hours prior; after that time, you can transfer your reservation to another party. A meal at Atera generally takes 2.5 to 3 hours, so there are two nightly seatings at 6:00 and 9:30. The restaurant requests prompt arrival (comparing their dining experience to the theatre) because all guests are served the same items at the same time. Atera has no dress code; in fact, their confirmation email reads “come as you like”; still, most guests dress for their evening.

Atera, which opened in 2012, is located on Worth Street in Tribeca. The restaurant offers no glaring signage from the street; just a low-key entry shared with a few other businesses. Our confirmation email said that there is no sign for Atera – yet there is a small sign – and to look for the blue awning – but there was no awning, blue or otherwise – when we visited. A basement cocktail bar is open to dinner guests only. (At one time in previous years, the bar was open to the public, but no longer.) The chic space features wood paneling and potted foliage (one wall contains an arrangement of potted plants to resemble a forest). Guests dine at a U-shaped slate-colored concrete counter open to the kitchen without the traditional finery of tablecloths, menus, and sometimes even without utensils. Frosted windows prevent passersby from gazing in. Even the restroom is spotlessly maintained, with a staff member freshening it between each guest’s use.

Atera describes itself as an immersive sensory dining experience. The Danish chef trained at El Bulli, Mugaritz, and Noma, and he serves modern American cuisine. Their 18-bite (“blind” so you do not make any choices) tasting menu (the only menu option) costs $235 per person, which includes gratuity but not tax or beverages. We ordered one nonalcoholic “temperance” cocktail pairing, which was amazing in both the creativity and complexity of drinks, and in the flair and flourish with which they were prepared and delivered. Atera holds two Michelin stars.

Our tasting menu courses included the following dishes:

1.        Lime/juniper drink with varying temperatures

2.        Waffle with thinly sliced mushroom and summer truffle

3.        Foie gras with corn and lemon verbena

4.        California grapes that were really olives

5.        Golden osetra caviar with beer and pistachio ice cream

6.        Mackerel with cucumber and horseradish

7.        Oyster with kohlrabi and thyme

8.        Lobster with celeriac, tomato, yuzu

9.        Whole wheat batard with butter and cheese

10.     Summer vegetables with quail egg yolk and cheddar

11.     Squab with chanterelle, cherry, and black currant leather

12.     Beef with zucchini and garlic scape

13.     Toasted hay with raspberry and elderflower

14.     Chocolate-covered rhubarb ice cream popsicle

15.     Mini-desserts: chocolate, blueberry tart, miso caramel, orange flower, and flodeboller

16.     Extra dessert: mini-chocolate birthday cake

Our temperance pairing included the following drinks:

1.        Cham”pine” with douglas fir

2.        Grapefruit “martini” with lemon verbena

3.        Cucumber fizz with lime, seaweed

4.        “No”groni with juniper gin, quinine “Campari”, sultana “vermouth”

5.        Cote de “beet” with black currant, thyme

6.        Milkshake with yuzu, green almond

We enjoyed our dinner at Atera; in particular, we loved sitting at the counter to observe the chefs plating dishes, and the amazingly inventive non-alcoholic pairing. Also, everyone at the restaurant repeatedly wished us a Happy Birthday, which made the evening even more memorable.

http://ny.eater.com/2016/5/10/11652078/atera-masters-the-art-of-the-non-alcoholic-drink-pairing

Atera’s Temperance Pairing—a series of virgin libations based on classic cocktails. New executive chef Ronny Emborg came up with the idea, which was inspired by the common Danish tradition of pairing juices with meals. Atera’s bar director Nick Duble says that rather than use juices, they decided to approach non-alcoholic pairings with the history of American cocktail culture in mind. The result is a rather impressive recreation of boozy beverages like the Negroni, Champagne, and glass of Côte de Beaune. Whether diners ask for an alcoholic or temperance pairing, they get the same dinner menu. And like any good beverage pairing, the Atera team designed each drink—wine, cocktail and mocktail—to draw out key flavors in the dish with which it is paired. Duble’s objective with the mocktail pairing was to go beyond what people expect of an alcohol-free cocktail. The challenge was using non-alcoholic ingredients to recreate some of the most familiar alcoholic beverages around. Their Nogroni was a particular doozy as the Negroni is a combination of three alcoholic ingredients. Over several weeks of research and development, Duble and his team tweaked ideas for ingredients that could, for example, recreate bitter Campari. Building the same acidity as a full-bodied red wine for their "Côte de Beet" mocktail was another undertaking. It’s a combination of black currents and beets that are aged in toasted oak. During the tasting menu, it’s served with the final main course—lamb.