Alder

Last updated on February 13, 2016

The James Beard Foundation’s 2013 Best NYC Chef winner, Wylie Dufesne opened his second restaurant Alder the same year. Now, it’s his only restaurant after WD-50 closing it’s door last November.
Alder, a very subtle place on 2nd Ave. Bar in the front, dinning room is deep inside. Dark wood furniture, white brick wall, dim lit place, very clean lines. It is modern and very comfortable. Dinning room is tasting menu “only”, but of course you can still order off bar menu along with it. And we did exactly that.

FOIE GRAS DUMPLING– Mullet mousse, pickle raisin
Not our regular “dumpling”, should really call it a puff. Cute, delicious little bites. Rich and tasty, and balanced really well by the pickle raisin. Served in an escargot dish, where are my other four??

Layers of “cheesed” together, created a croissant-like cheese cube. Reminds me of the potato cake on the Mixed Grill from Torrisi Italian Speciality. Lightly toasted, topped with a little sauce. Amazing!

“PIGS IN A BLANKET” 13 – Chinese sausage, Japanese mustard, sweet chili sauce
Nice bite size of pigs in a blanket. Very very good Chinese sausage. This was a very nice touch by our waitress and very understanding staff. We did debated if we should order this as an individual dish, but was concern with the amount of food we are getting knowing we will get definitely the tasting menu and the pig ears. After we expressed our concern, our waitress surprised us with a mini plate of pigs in a blanket. Yes, it’s just two bites. But the thoughts really count. This way we get a taste, but not stuffed our stomach.

CRISPY PIG EARS 12- avocado, pineapple, pickled mustard seeds
Awesome crispy pig ears. So crunchy and so tasty. Not oily at all. Adding pineapple and mustard seeds is genius. It brightens the dish. And great combination of sweet and salty.

CARAMELIZED CAULIFLOWER TOFU– smoked eel, burnt orange, pistachio
Very interesting texture of tofu. It is almost “grits” like but much less heavy. A very healthy dish, but for me, it could use a little more seasoning.

BLACK GARLIC POTATOES– bravas consomme, chorizo, scallion
A Spain dish with a twist. Texture of black potatoes is just right, still firm and not mushy. Consomme was poured at the table, gives the dish a clear, light touch so it is not as heavy.

OKONOMIYAKI SILVER DOLLARS– grilled octopus, Kewpie mayo
Could use a few more octopus here. Chef Dufresne is taking a page from the very popular Japanese street-food cook book. This is basically a stack of mini tiny octopus pancakes pour with hollandaise sauce. Presentation looks great as the sauce is again, poured in front of us, but nothing innovative about this. This could be easily made at home.

FLANK STEAK– summer squash, beef tendon, hazelnuts
Tender, juicy, tender. Perfectly cooked!

OVALTINE ICE CREAM CAKE– strawberry, coconut, almond
Coated with cinnamon power, this was a disappointment to me. Not that it wasn’t a good piece of cake, just that there wasn’t any taste of ovaltine. Ovaltine is my favorite drink when I was a kid (i’m still a kid as times), but there was no trace of that rich, chocolatey favor here and totally overwhelmed by cinnamon.

BANANA CUBE & WHISKEY COOKIE
The banana cube was awesome. It a solid jelly packs with huge banana aroma and favor.

The 5 courses tasting menu is only $65, which is quite decent. Alder to me is contemporary cuisines with an Asian twist. I felt that the bar food wowed me more than the tasting menu. This is definitely a place where we can enjoy the delicious cocktail and great pub food. (June, 2015)