FOOD BIZ | Alta Linea Opens (Updated May 12 )

Alta Linea is on Ninth Avenue in back of the
General Theological Center, 20th-21st Streets.
All photos by Alice Tepper Marlin.

Alta Linea is open for the summer season in Chelsea. It is just east of the High Line after which it is named.

An online pronouncing dictionary says the second word in the name in Italian should be pronounced LEAN-eh-ya. The anglicized LIN-eh-ya is also used.

Alice gave me a report on her first visit. She said Alta Linea is child-, dog- and diner-friendly.

Just a few days after reopening (it is closed during the winter), it is getting a regular crowd again.

Dog-Friendly

Looks like a standard poodle back there, coexisting
with a little girl.

One nice thing about Alta Linea is that since it is an outdoor restaurant, dogs on a leash are welcome.  (The NYC Health Code prohibits dogs in enclosed restaurants.) 

But dogs should not expect a seat at the table (in the lap is okay).


Yesterday (Saturday) a standard poodle was seen dining or at least standing by.

Server offered Hachiko Wookie his own water
 in a plastic cup. They also have dog dishes.

Not to mention our Schnauzer-Wookie mix Hachiko, seen here with a plastic cup of water. 

There is a good dog dish with water out front but Hachiko wanted his own.

Food

Oh, the food. Alice says that she had bruschetta with whipped ricotta first. She said:

It was perfectly toasted, ricotta amazingly light, cut with honey so also sweet.

The market fish was grouper. Alice says:

The lightest, most delicate grouper I have ever eaten. Delicious sauce, asparagus and morel mushrooms with it. The sauce so yummy that I asked for more bread to soak up every bit of it, very French.

She hesitated on dessert as the most original seemed to be a special rice pudding. She says:

I never much liked rice pudding but this one was amazing! On a bed of delicate rice pudding was a delightful assortment of very special fruits and nuts. Heavenly!

Wine selection leans toward Italian with some New World labels. Hard to choose because there are so many good ones. Alice said she had a light northern Italian red, perfect with the meal.

Update May 12

Alice, Hachiko and I went again for dinner. It opens at 5 pm but we went late. The place was packed. We shared  artichokes to start; yum. Alice and I each had a grouper and loved it again, and cleaned the plate. We shared the rice pudding dessert and I have to say it is everything Alice said about it, outstanding. Next time we will try some different things. Meanwhile we know there are things to eat there that we are unlikely to get tired of.