Alta

I've been reading about this restaurant for a long time on Chowhound.com. People always say....Tapas=Alta. And as usual, the hounds speak the truth. The entrance of the restaurant may be discreet, tucked into the basement in the mist of brownstones, but the inside has a wonderful aura. There are two levels of seating with a square atrium in the middle. Our waiter informed us that the inside rafters have been untouched since the mid 1800's, which is totally sweet, and perhaps the echo of the past contributes greatly to the warm atmosphere. But let's not forget why we are here. The food. The food is awesome. It is small. Tapas are by nature small, and these are no exception. But each dish is exquisitely composed with flavors.
I don't have pictures of the main dishes so I won't torture you with the details (becuase descriptions without pictures are just painful, there's no way around that).
So here is the dessert I...consumed...no savored. "Rice Krispie Treats-coconut foam, chocolate dust & peanut croquant". Woah. This was the best "rice krispie treat" I HAVE HAD. If the kebler elves had thought of this, they would be sitting on a gold mine. I'm sure they are kicking themselves. The puffs were lighter than ice cream and gelato....they erred more on the side of a meringue..in fact I'm sure they were some form it. The center pieces were little peanut cookies. Light, full of flavor, sweet with a delicate crisp. Woah, so good. Must go back!!!