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“Aldea”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Mediterranean	Flatiron	Moderate	Great

hed from the roost.

It’s a touch that speaks to Mendes’ affection for the Greenmarket, a passion he developed for many years as sous chef under Marco Moreira at Tocqueville. While the cuisine of his restaurant, named for the Portuguese word village, is described as Mediterranean/Portuguese, it’s (natch) rooted in the farm-to-table movement. The restaurant is a stone’s throw from the Union Square farmer’s market, after all. It would be sacreligious given its proximity not to exploit its bounty (ramps are on the menu now, with crisped pig ears, apple and cumin yogurt, $6).

Susie and I arrived first, settling in on the banquette facing the kitchen, perused the menu and caught up. I sounded like a typical new mom, rattling off exciting facts like the number of hours of sleep Emily had slept the night before, changes in Emily’s weight, concerns about her recent fever, concerns about my level of anxiety and stress. Really exciting stuff. Meanwhile, Susie had just returned from several weeks in India and London for work and travel. Jamie and Adrienne showed up shortly after and soon it was the four of us again. And while one of us was an overtired new mom, once the meal got going, and the stories started flowing, I began to find a little bit of me still there underneath it all. It felt good. And the meal was terrific, too, which didn’t hurt matters.

Mendes makes sardines the way you imagine they make them on the coast in Portugal—meaty and oily, but fresh not fishy, bedded on a creamy almond milk puree with fat raisins zested up with lemon ($10). A cool spring consommé of young peas is dotted with diced chorizo for some smoky heat and crowned with a few morels ($11).  It’s a light, waif-like soup at first slurp, but the chorizo gives it some hearty weight. I also liked the juicy shrimp alhinho with pimenton and coriander ($15). They were richly flavored with saffron and pimenton, like they were intended for a paella but were removed just before making it into the rice.

Funny enough, one of the most impressive appetizers was the house salad—a gorgeous tumble of fresh spring greens tossed with blanched baby vegetables (that looked like they were plucked from a garden grown in a Harry Winston window), with hunks of aged country cheese, figs and edible flowers dressed in a port vinaigrette ($15). It’s one of the most delicious (and beautiful) compos ... [more, click below]

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Posted: July 12, 2009

Other restaurants in Flatiron :
+ Suenos   + Amuse-- Closed   + Dos Caminos   + Lucy-- Closed   + Gramercy Taver   + Veritas   + Fleur De Sel   + Bolo -- CLosed   + City Bakery   + Shake Shack   + Kalustyan's Cafe   + Devi   + BLT Fish   + Sugarcane   + BLT Prime   + Barca 18-- CLOSED   + Beppe   + Barbounia   + Boqueria   + Eleven Madison   + Lonesome Dove-- CLOSED   + Hill Country   + Olana   + Wildwood   + Primehouse   + Allegretti   + Bar Breton   + Aldea   + SD26 by Bao Ong   + ABC Kitchen   + Ciano   + The NoMad   

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