First, it was penicillin, spaceships, cloned sheep, personal computers, Flintstones Vitamins, ChapStick and
iPods.
Now, it’s dinner. Let us explain…
Unveiling Atera, an obsessively seasonal Tribeca restaurant that’s concocting high-concept/fully
foraged tasting menus in a state-of-the-art underground lab, taking reservations now.
Right now, you’re probably making several calculated/absurd assumptions about this place. Thinking it’s
the kind of establishment that would have a living wall full of harvest-ready herbs. Or a professional
forager on retainer. Or birchwood for dessert…
Okay, clearly this isn’t your first rodeo.
So yes, weird dinners. That’s the play here. Ten to 14 avant-garde tasting plates that are developed daily
in a chemistry lab and served nightly in an open kitchen. For two seatings. Of 17 people. That’s it.
You’ll need to be quick with a reservation (or stealthy with a bribe), because the very limited stools
around this slate-and-stainless-steel chef’s table will fill up fast. Also, you’ll want to stay abreast
of incoming ingredients, because they’ve got a guy (the same one David Chang trusts to source his sacred
pork bun components) constantly scouring the country looking for strange/sumptuous foods to add to the
ever-evolving menu. Things like sea rocket, sassafras, spruce and shad roe.
Science, you magnificent bastard.
