Chef Scott Conant and L’Impero Partners Launch New Restaurant
Alto Opens in Midtown Manhattan
Chef Scott Conant and L’Impero Partners Launch New Restaurant
NEW YORK, NY, April 28, 2005—Award-winning chef/owner Scott Conant and his partners in L’Impero—Chris Cannon, Jane Epstein and Vicente Wolf—have opened Alto, the team’s most ambitious restaurant project to date at 520 Madison Avenue (entrance on 53rd Street) in the heart of midtown Manhattan. The restaurant’s name is both a reference to alta cucina (the term for highly refined Italian cuisine) and to Northern Italy, from which chef Conant draws considerable inspiration for Alto’s menu.
Conant and managing partner Chris Cannon have assembled a passionate team that possesses a formidable combination of talent and experience. In the kitchen, chef de cuisine Kevin Sippel, most recently of L’Impero and La Caravelle, and pastry chef Tim Butler, formerly of Aquavit and Daniel collaborate with Conant on Alto’s distinctive menu. In the dining room, sommelier Eric Zillier, formerly of Veritas, works closely with Cannon to offer a wine program that pays fitting tribute to Northern Italian white and red wines as well as a remarkable selection of fairly priced vintage Bordeaux and Burgundy.
Designed by partner Vicente Wolf, Alto features a dramatic interior. Decorative, glass-enclosed wine cabinets showcasing thousands of bottles rising to the ceiling flank the restaurant’s western wall (a 1000-square foot temperature-controlled cellar beneath houses Alto’s extensive wine list). Like the menu, Alto’s rich visual and textural palette is sophisticated, yet accessible, including burgundy chairs, muted gray banquettes, titanium bar, frosted glass wall panels, polished steel I-Beams, upholstered silk and finished concrete walls, and both cordovan leather and sheer curtains. Split-level dining consists of an intimate 80-seat main dining room downstairs and a mezzanine above that accommodates versatile private dining for parties of eight to twenty-four guests.
An Italian-inspired Chef Explores New Territory
Conant’s menu is a departure from the ingredients and culinary sensibilities most familiarly identified with Italian cuisine in America. Borrowing principally from the mountainous fringe bordering France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia (as well as the entire Northern third of the Italian peninsula) Conant has crafted a range of unique, accessible dishes. Signature appetizers include Mushroom Consommé with asparagus and Riesling terrine and baby blue foot salad; Smoked Tasmanian trout, parsley root vinaigrette, horseradish froth and ceci farinata (a chickpea and chive pancake, often eaten as street food in Liguria); and Smoked goose liver carpaccio with Sicilian sea salt and green tomato mostarda (a traditional sweet and sour condiment from Lombardia).
House-made pastas, for which Conant has developed a reputation at L’Impero, include Agnolotti Piemontese (small ravioli filled with a fonduta of Fontina cheese, veal, chicken, and pork), parmigiano froth, organic carrots and baby mushrooms; Ramp risotto with balsamic glazed eel; and Trenette (a Ligurian term for ribbon-like pasta) with spot prawns, mussels, zucchini and ricci di mare froth, poured tableside.
Alto’s main course offerings include Olive oil poached breast of guinea hen, crispy speck and foie gras emulsion with roasted leg, stuffed with almonds, currants and cauliflower; Fresh braised guanciale “sotto vuoto” (pig jowls cured for 24 hours then braised for 48 hours), roasted pork loin with caramelized cabbage and potato schupfnudeln (rustic, gnocchi-like pasta); Seared pike with pea puree, pickled shallots, spaetzle and Gaeta oil; Japanese sea bass with parsley root, Brussels sprouts, honshimeji mushrooms and sunchoke gauzetto; and Roasted sturgeon with baby bok choy, lobster knoedle, preserved lemon and lobster emulsion.
Alto’s beverage program affords a broad and deep range of red, white and sparkling wines in a variety of price points (wines by the glass range from a refreshing Mueller-Thurgau priced at $9 to an expressive Barolo Vigneta Solanotto offered for $25). A true labor of love, Cannon and Zillier hand-selected many of Alto’s wines on several buying trips to Europe and by working closely with private wine collectors and Alto Adige’s top producers. An ambitious selection of specialty cocktails including the Milano-Bassano, JB Combine, Citriolo, and Amaro Montenegro and Grapefruit find inspiration in a diversity of international spirits and ingredients.
Alto’s four-course ($75) and three-course prix fixe ($65) is served Monday through Thursday, from 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. A seven-course chef’s tasting menu is available for $115; a grand twenty-course tasting is $220. Lunch is served Monday through Friday from 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and features an à la carte menu and two-course prix fixe “Espresso Lunch” ($30). For reservations, please contact Alto at 212.308.1099.
For more information about Alto, please contact Phillip Baltz ([email protected]) or
Sarah Abell ([email protected]) at Baltz & Company – 212.982.8300.