SADLY, ALDEA IS NOW CLOSED.
It’s fun to notice and follow food trends in New York City. And nowhere are the trends more noticeable than on Time Out’s Top 100 list. For instance, there are three fried chicken dishes, four egg dishes, and four items that contain sea urchin.
I have already mentioned my very first nightmarish experience with sea urchin many years ago here, so I will spare you the gory details and talk about my most recent which was much more pleasant.
Sea urchin toast is one of the small bites wunder-chef George Mendes offers at his new upscale Portuguese restaurant, Aldea. I was actually surprised by the size of the dish – I was expecting truly one bite. It was a Melba toast size cracker that was covered with a layer of earthy cauliflower puree, a generous dollop of creamy briny sea urchin, some pickled mustard seeds for texture, and salty delicate sea lettuce to garnish the petite dish. I got something new and exciting with each delicious bite (all three of them).
Sea urchin does seem to be infiltrating itself into all types of cuisines around NY – besides the Portuguese version, I also get to see how the Japanese (Kyo Ya), the Italians (Scarpetta), and the Pescatarians (Marea) take on the spiky little creature. If they all taste this good, I’m happy to jump on the sea urchin bandwagon. I just dread the day the Israelis put it on their falafel.
Would Aldea’s Sea Urchin Toast make my Top 100 of the year? It was constructed beautifully revealing surprising and unique flavors and textures, giving it an 8 out of 10.
