Birthday Dinner

I've been wanting to eat at Alma for awhile, so it was a no-brainer when my birthday came along where we were going to celebrate. I had one of the best meals I've had in awhile. My words can't really do it justice. Overall, everything was unique and inspired. A special meal, indeed. I'm going to list all the dishes as they were listed on the menu.

Seaweed & tofu beignet, yuzu kosho, lime.

The funk of the seaweed meets spongy tofu, all deep-fried with a kick of something spicy and dash of lime brightness.

Uni toast, burrata, caviar, licorice herbs.

Ocean salt from the uni and caviar combined with the salt from the burrata melded perfectly on a rich piece of toasted bread. One of the highlights of the meal.

Summer corn soup, vadouvan, nasturtium.

It was a typical corn soup, but with a scoop of savory green ice cream to dissolve into it. Extremely interesting and fun to eat, but with all the flavor to back it up.

Smoked white bass, peach, avocado, okra, shaved padron.

This was my favorite dish! It was so fresh. The peach sauce was perfectly balanced. I wouldn't have been able to place the peach if it wasn't printed on the menu. The raw sliced okra tasted like the fresh jalapeno without the spice. It was just awesome. I could've easily eaten another order.

Grilled scallop, bacon, corn, miso, apricot.

This was good, maybe not as unique as most of the other dishes. The apricot and scallop pairing was special, though. And the edible corn silk was fun.

Dry aged New York steak, snails, asparagus, morel, smoked garlic bearnaise.

This wasn't my favorite. The steak was very rare, which was good, but difficult to cut. Also, there were a lot of bold flavors competing. It was still delicious, but it wasn't as nuanced as the other dishes.

Warm fig, pu erh, brown butter madeleine, pine brittle. And a candle for my birthday!

I've never had a fig that I've liked, but if you disguise it with perfectly toasted marshmallow and madeleine and whatever pu erh is, I will eat fig and I will enjoy it.

I imagine the menu changes all the time to accommodate fresh ingredients. This is a restaurant that I would love to visit every few months to see what dishes the changing seasonal produce inspires. Thank you for a beautiful birthday dinner!