Kaluga Caviar (custard, bonito): A signature of Atera. The dish is very good, but not an outstanding caviar course relative to oysters and pearls, eggs on eggs on eggs, etc. The custard could have been richer in taste, and while the bonito did work, it wasn’t the greatest pairing. The smoked olive oil was also unnecessary. This dish isn’t bad, but a few things could be slightly tweaked.
Halibut (scallop, mushroom): A tasty dish. All the elements were perfect on their own, but they weren’t the greatest served together. The light sauce was nice, but I didn’t think the mushroom went super well with the seafood, and honestly, this dish hardly featured halibut relative to the scallop. The accoutrements didn’t really add anything to the dish.
Beef (carrot, kombu, harissa): Perfectly cooked beef with a nice, slight kick from the harissa, but they could have done better with the sauce. It was nice and complemented the beef, but I didn’t get any carrot/kombu notes. A good, but very boring dish.
Duck (apple, sunchoke, hazelnut): Perfectly cooked duck, though a tad underseasoned, with a phenomenal sunchoke purée. The hazelnut brought a nice nuttiness and crunch to the dish, however, the apple was unnecessary.
Blood Orange (cream, vanilla): Pretty much the same as the last dessert. This was a good balance of sweetness, acidity, and citrus notes, though I would have liked something different than another creamy fruit dessert with a citrus sauce. Once again, tasted good, but it was very boring.
Blueberry (lemon, lemongrass): Tasted good, but very boring. The blueberry cream went super well with the lemon/lemongrass, but this dish could have had some crunch and more blueberry flavor.
Besides those courses I was served: crab (white asparagus), Æbleskiver (truffle, comte), beet (foie gras, sorghum), salmon (avacado, roe, citrus), lobster (sweetbread, truffle), apple tart (caramel), banana (bourbon), and chocolate (mint). While the lobster dish was a very interesting combination and truly exceptional, everything else was at a 1* level, I’d say, if not slightly lower. Still, none of the dishes were truly bad.
The service all around was good, but not great, though I do realize it’s always a challenge given a chef’s table setup. Atera once again has given me a pretty mid experience. While none of the dishes were truly bad per se, nothing besides the lobster was really at the 2* level for me. It’s really no shock to me that you can often get a same-day reservation. To me, it feels like the menu has no real cohesion and is simply a procession of luxury/trendy ingredients with no real vision.
by Bonzo1640
3 Comments
What was the lobster dish? Unless I’m severely lacking in reading comprehension , I don’t see you describe what it is.
Interestingly, I went in December and got almost exactly the same menu (the lobster for me was just a small taco thing). I think I liked the menu on the whole more than you, with the custard-caviar thing being a real standout for me. But I’m not rushing to go back.
So you liked all the dishes, but then again you didn’t.
Photos look really good, what did you use to take them?