A chef from Portland with a "passion for foraging" has landed in Tribeca in an intimate new restaurant called Atera, where he'll offer a $150 10-course tasting menu for just 17 diners at a time. Well, it's not exactly new—the space was formerly Compose, which also offered similarly pricey ($120) tasting menus at an intimate chef's table. The owner's still the same, but the chef is Matthew Lightner, who is "something of a critical darling and one of the big players in the foraging scene," according to the Times.
Atera seats 12 at the elegant bar and another five at a five-seat table. Like at Compose, Lightner and his team ply their trade at an open kitchen, and the ever-changing menu may or may not include such delicacies as Ragout of Fish Cheeks with seaweed butter and heirloom garlic; BBQ Lamb Collar with sassafrass, root beer and chicories; Grilled Leeks with wheat grass, raw apple and leek ash; and Cured Scallop with meringue, frozen juice and gin mash.
It goes without saying that all the ingredients "are locally and responsibly sourced" by Lightner and Evan Strusinski, a wild food forager from Camden, ME. “It will be interesting to see what we get as the weather warms," Lightner tells the Times. "This is an almost herbal-based cuisine."
Beverage pairings are also available for an additional $90 per head.
Compose // 77 Worth Street // (212) 226-1444
