May 26, 2011

Alfama-lama-ding-dong

Hi, Jimmy here! Alice is busy scanning film so I'm writing this one up, as she's just finished compiling the pictures.

Last Friday, we were invited as guests of the house to a friends and family preview dinner at Alfama, a Portuguese restaurant (re-)opening in Midtown East. Portuguese food is in an interesting spot in New York. George Mendes at the acclaimed Aldea and Dave Santos at our neighborhood favorite Hotel Griffou both expertly cook modern Portuguese-influenced food, but restaurants serving Portuguese food full stop are a rarity.

It's hard to be critical of a restaurant that hadn't yet opened at the time, but the kitchen was already operating at a very high level. My favorite appetizer was the "Borrego Desfiado", a plate of three slices of bread topped with pulled lamb cooked in honey and fruit. The sweet flavors worked perfectly with the natural flavor of the lamb and made for a very unique and enjoyable flavor profile. Rabbit meatballs were very strong as well.

Main dishes proved strong as well. The most notable was a stuffed monkfish, but I'm a sucker for anything stuffed with something else. Most of the other mains were very good and quite interesting as well. Also, while it wasn't as obvious with the appetizers, but the portions here are also huge: more than enough for those ordering just an appetizer and a main to not miss dessert.

The restaurant is a bit out of the way from our usual haunts, but we'll definitely keep it in mind whenever we find ourselves looking for dinner in that neighborhood.

Alfama opened this Monday, the 23rd, at 214 E. 52nd St.

Back to playing with the new Sinar F.

- Jimmy

9 comments :

  1. hello jimmy! well-written piece! it's so cool that you both enjoy photography and good food (and that you're so supportive of her photography endeavor). I saw that Sinar on Alice's instagram feed - that's a huge thing!

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  2. Hello Jimmy. Enjoyed reading the post. Very interesting dishes here. Let us know if you ever start your own blog.

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  3. Guest blogger, cool!

    Great write-up, Mr J! Goes well with the yummy images! Look forward to any future visits.

    And, um, enjoy the new toy! Whoa, large format...:)

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  4. I like the change.

    Hi Jimmy! I am very happy to hear your voice on this blog of grams'. Can't wait to see you and grams in a couple of weeks.

    Btw, did grams tell you about a dream she had about the 3 of us eating? If not, you should ask her.. :P

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  5. Your photographs can make even food I would NEVER eat (e.g. octopus rice, I'm allergic) look so yummy!

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  6. Great post, Jimmy. So sweet of you to pinch hit for Alice. Looking forward to meeting you next month. :)

    Alice - have you thought about having the lab scan for you? We have our lab do the scanning, not at full resolution though, but at a medium size. It's kind of a time saver. That way, if there is a certain photo we need larger, we only scan that particular photo ourselves. I don't think the cost is that much more significant.

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  7. Cindy, I wish it weren't a much more significant cost - unfortunately I think scanning at the lab I use (and many of the labs here) is $10 for a roll of 120, way more than just the developing. And since it takes me like 30-40 minutes to scan a roll of 120 at hi res, I'll take that for now. :P

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  8. It's always nice to see how portuguese restaurants are doing around the world. =)

    Great post, Jimmy! Amazing photos, as always!

    btw, Alfama is the oldest district in Lisbon! You guys should come visit: we have great food! =)

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  9. First Jimmy was just a J then he had a face now a voice!
    ...okay, enough of me being crazy. Everything in this post looks yummy!

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