Restaurant Review: Alder

Eh. I have to say that Alder was a bit of a let down. I must caveat that I was not feeling 100% the day I went with Jeremy, but we agree on the so-so-ness of Alder. First of all, I was a bit confused by the atmosphere of the place. The decor was pretty bare and there was just nothing memorable about it. It was dimly lit, so my pictures are exceptionally poor this time, sorry. Also, our waitress was kind of awkward, but she was fine service-wise. Now the food...

We ordered 5 dishes to share, starting with the Pickled Beets. They were served with coconut ricotta and Thai basil crystals. The beets were not very pickley, which is good actually, because it went well with the creamy, not-too-sweet, coconut ricotta. The Thai basil was super interesting because it was somehow crystallized and reminded me of colored sugar (like the kind you use to decorate cupcakes). It provided a nice textural contrast and overall I thought this was a good starter.

Pickled Beets

Next was the Chicken Liver Toast. Unfortunately for this dish, we just had an amazing iteration of Chicken Liver with Toast at Charlie Bird, so this version fell flat. It was served on top of cornbread with grapefruit marmalade around it and a piece of crispy chicken skin on top. Since chicken liver is creamy, it seemed weird to put it on top of cornbread as it is a soft vehicle and it all kind of mushed together. It didn't help that the liver was under seasoned. However, the grapefruit marmalade gave a nice tang, and the chicken skin on top was super crispy and savory.

Chicken Liver Toast

The next course was the Fried Squash Blossoms. Two flaky cornucopias were served on a slate board filled with blended smoked shrimp, summer squash, celtuce, and some fresh dill. This was probably the best dish of the night. The outside was crispy and the inside was creamy and flavorful. There was a nice sauce drizzled on top too.

For our entrees, we split the Rye Pasta and the Beef Tongue. The concept of the Rye Pasta was cool - rye flavored pasta with shaved pastrami in it (like the classic kosher deli sandwich), however I probably would have preferred the actual sandwich. The pasta was dry and it needed some kind of sauce. I personally thought a nice mustard-based sauce would go well, but what do I know.

The Beef Tongue was served thinly sliced with smoked yucca, pickled cippolini, and chimichurri dashi. This was pretty good. The tongue was tasty and the dashi broth was nice. Nothing to run back for. I can't even remember any other thoughts I had about it.

Rye Pasta

Beef Tongue

Needless to say I will not be returning or recommending this spot. It was pretty expensive, about $150 for this meal (including 2 beers), and there are plenty of other restaurants that have food good enough to command this rate.