Docsconz

One of the problems for me with writing about restaurants is that it is difficult to return to places that I’ve been and enjoyed when it seems that there is always something new and exciting that I have not yet experienced nor written about.  Nevertheless, I do go back to old favorites when I can, but I do not necessarily write about them unless there is something compelling about the experience that will add to the discussion of the restaurant and the chef. Such was the case with Atera, Chef Matthew Lightner’s modern fine dining restaurant located in lower Manhattan. My first meal, had shortly after the restaurant opened, was excellent. I wrote at the time,

Chef Lightner’s influences, Andoni Luis Aduriz and Rene Redzepi, are readily apparent in his work. He learned a lot from them and is not afraid to use what he learned, but that doesn’t mean that he is simply copying them. Lightner is not quite as “technoemotional” as Aduriz nor as regionally identified as Redzepi. Rather, his work is a continuation of a school of cooking that goes back to at least Michel Bras. Lightner has been a very astute pupil and has incorporated what he has learned into his style, a style that I expect will continue to evolve the longer he is in NYC.

During that first meal, Chef Lightner’s influences from Andoni Luis Aduriz and Rene Redzepi were clear and they were welcome as there wasn’t anyone else at the time in NYC doing anything quite like it. With this meal, however, Lightner’s influences, while present, were less obvious and his food more distinctively his as he built upon some themes and earlier approaches. That first meal was exciting because it was fresh for NYC and very, very good. This one, however, was even more exciting, because it showed that the voice of a top young chef has grown more clear, refined and personal as well as being even more delicious. Pair that with some of the finest service around, an intimate setting conducive to conviviality (each time we made friends with our neighbors at the u-shaped dining bar overlooking the open kitchen) and a great beverage program and one has a recipe for one of the very best restaurants in the country, let alone NYC. Continue reading →