Almanac

A truly wonderful meal. We had the 5 course dinner and each course was lovely. The service excellent and ambiance perfect. A phenomenal experience.

This place is great. The vibe is pretty chill and has a classic look to it. I came here with a group of 8 and had one hell of meal. Although we had a large group this could definitely be a great place to go on a date. The Rabbit porchetta with spiced carrot, pickled crones and pistachios was perfectly cooked and tasted incredible. We also had the Arctic char sauce with grilled fennel and baby leeks, among many other great dishes and loved them all. We had the chance to meet the chef and owner at the end of the night as they came out to see how everything was going, great people. I will definitely be back.

Went for Christmas dinner. Fixed price, several courses, $ 150 per person.
Food was solid, very good. Same with service. None of it was incredible but the portions are small and one would expect more for the price. Christmas dinner as cash cow for the restaurant. I can see how people like it, but I will not be back.

The eight course meal was a totally wonderful experience. So much fun to anticipate what the chef will bring out next! Delicious food, awesome staff! Chef Galen rocks, super creative dishes and new menu everyday! Great experience, it’s a must see/​do.

Our dinner at Almanac was an incredible experience to be remembered for years to come. The food and presentation were incredibly well executed, and the service was amicable and inviting. We recommend the wine pairing due to the availability of highly knowledgable staff and recommendations from Nate Germain. An example, for our oyster appetizer, which I still think of for its unique parsnip purée, Germain poured us a crisp and delectable Muscadet wine and enlightened us with a short description of the valley and region where the wine grapes were grown. We continued our culinary journey with an amazing wagyu beef dish, an incredible tartar dish, an impressive bass dish, a formidable pork dish which was to die for, and finally a spectacular lamb dish finely paired with a highly aromatic Mourvèdre glass. Our fantastic adventure ended with a high note with their chocolate dessert that was creatively paired with a slightly bubbly rose wine that sealed our date as one of the best dinner nights we have ever had the privilege to enjoy.
I would highly recommend Almanac and Nate Germain to anybody seeking a unique and flavorful experience to add to their top 5.
Thank you Almanac.

Almanac is fantastic! My friend treated me to on my birthday. We indulged in their 8 course tasting menu. Well worth the price tag. You can taste the freshness in each perfectly executed dish. Do not pass up the duck, it was amazing! The service was spot on from the hostess to the bus boy. I’m surprised Almanac doesn’t have a Michelin Star yet.
The atmosphere is casual, yet refined. It’s very cozy. I recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a great experience. I will definitely be back soon.

This is a very comfortable, friendly and overall lovely place to eat. The service was excellent. If only the food tasted the same way. The food was good, but not great, although the presentation of food was appealing. I wanted to love what I was eating so that I would want to return another time to try other dishes.
What you can do is mix the Prix Fixe courses to your liking and this fact makes it easy to find your niche without eating something you may not like due to a fixed tasting menu. You can also order a la carte. Someone mentioned in their review that the portions were tiny, but that is not the case. They were what one usually finds when doing a tasting menu, nothing wrong with that.
I wish that all three of us would have enjoyed the food more.

Amazing food and drink menu! You can taste the freshness in the food and the elegance in their wine selections. I would come back again sooner than later because I would like the chance to try everything on their menu.

Almanac’s farm to table dishes with a focus on the hyper-​season are delicious and innovative! My husband and I enjoyed very much our dinner last Friday. Every single dish we ate out of our three course menu was cooked to perfection. My duck was divine, super tender and balanced so well with the brussel sprouts and sweet potato purée. The rabbit pappardelle was rich in flavor, yet so light when put into the mouth! What thrilled us even more was the sight of the wine room, a part of the restaurant floor, since we could see that we would have a vast option of wines. We had a great time at Almanac!

Overdue review but quite possibly the best meal I’ve ever had in NYC and I’ve had many great ones. Got a reservation the day of rather easily and they even had space for walk-​ins on a Friday night. We did the 3-​course prix fixe simply because we liked the options better for it than the 5 or 7 course options but if I get the chance to come back, I think ordering a la carte is the way to go. You don’t really save money by doing the prix fixe menus and the 5 and 7 course ones are pretty pricey anyways.
Everything was cooked extremely well and seasoned to perfection. I ate here a month ago so I’m blanking on some of the specifics but I would be remiss to not drop a review for them. Service was outstanding as well.

Classy ambiance without being pretentious. Timing between meals was good (the restaurant was pretty empty for context). My only complaint was that the lamb bacon was overcured/​too salty. Nonetheless, the food was overall excellent. I had a lamb entrée and the doneness was perfect (most places get it wrong). In one dish, chicken was expertly paired with spring onions. The hazelnut & blueberry dessert was crumbly and not too sweet; I just wish there was more on the plate!
Service was non-​intrusive and effective. I would definitely recommend for dinner on a special occasion or just an evening out.

Ate here last week. Had the 8 course tasting menu. The service was good, but didn’t wow you. The food was quite good but really only had 1 truly memorable, never-​forget-​it dish, which for me was the squid bolognese with squid ink tagliatelle. I’m a sucker for squid ink pasta. The white asparagus dish, which is essentially a salad, was surprisingly good, but I probably had low expectations. The quail and pork loin were also quite tasty and cooked to perfection. I didn’t find the portions to be too small as some others did. I left feeling full. And relative to some of its peers in the tasting menu world, $ 145 is not outrageous.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the décor and ambiance, and it was definitely far more laid back then similar restaurants. My companion also asked about taking pics of the food, which they were totally cool with (I still couldn’t bring myself to be that guy). The fact that they let you swap out between the various tasting menus was a revelation.
All in all, I’d recommend.

My husband and I celebrated our anniversary here over the weekend. While the ambiance and space is cozy, intimate, and romantic… we did expect a little more oomph in our food for the price tag. We ordered the 5 course tasting menu. I’d have to say that the appetizers were a bit underwhelming but the main courses did make up for it. I particularly enjoyed the red snapper. I also have to mention the bread pudding dessert I got because I was very pleasantly surprised and impressed with their modern take of such an old time dessert. Service was also excellent. I enjoyed the experience and think it’s worth a try for a special occasion but wouldn’t come back for a second time.

We made the mistake of ordering the 8-​course tasting menu. You might think the most expensive option would merit the best dining experience but you would be mistaken.
At Almanac, the portion sizes are adjusted for the number of courses you order (3, 5, or 8). But they over-​compensated for our 8-​course menu; the bites were tiny and we left hungry, while neighboring tables had substantially larger portions. The experience of sitting there hungry was even more excruciating because of the pacing: two hours in, we had only been served the first four courses. They have to work on their timing.
Also, what restaurant can in good faith count its palate cleanser as a billed course?

Disappointing.
We came here when it was Mas and loved it so when my birthday came around I was eager to go again. I read the reviews and should have listened to them but went with my past experience.
Décor — it is romantic cosy and dimly lit.
Food — Disappointing. First — if you get the tasting menu know that portions are tiny. You will be lucky if you get two bites in. If you like something, order the full size so you can at least enjoy it for the money.
The tuna tartar was my favorite. Everything else had too much salt, or was too sweet and the meat I had was undercooked — not in a good way.
Service — it was ok. Waiters were nice but it was not genuine. I can spot a fake smile when I see one.
Cost — just not worth it for what it is. Tasting menu portions are way too small and the food is just not as good. One review called food preparation mistakes «rookie mistakes». I didn’t see how that was possible from my previous experience with Mas, but it is true.
The most insulting part was that we asked to try lamb bacon to see what it would taste like. We got a piece that was the size of a quarter and at the end got charged $ 4 for it. In a place where you can easily pay $ 300 for a two person meal I shouldn’t feel like I am being nickel and dimed. I should feel like they are going above and beyond to make my experience a good one. Instead, I felt like they were cutting corners. Not a good feeling — especially not on my birthday.

I loved the set up of this restaurant. Very romantic, and a nice ambiance. The servers went above and beyond. If this review was based solely on setup and service I would give it five stars.
The food–
The first course I got the carrot falafel. It was delicious. Second course– pork. The pork was undercooked and cold. I wish they had asked me how I wanted my pork cooked, maybe that’s just a texas thing? I wish they had more vegetables on the plate as well, but that’s just a preference. For dessert I got the chocolate soufflé. I have a soufflé obsession so I may be biased but again this left something to be desired. I also don’t think pomegranate is the best sorbet and fruit pairing for this dish, and I love pomegranate. I guess for a $ 75 price fixe that I expected the food to be better.

Did I miss something? This place doesn’t have a website? Anyway… moving on. As a true village idiot, I am always on the prowl for great new restaurants in WV. I was excited to try this place on my trip to NYC primarily because of the great things I had heard about it. In reality, I want to give this restaurant at least a four-​star rating but I can’t for two reasons: 1. The food and 2. The service.
First and foremost, I want to talk about the great things this restaurant has to offer. The restaurant definitely has ambition. The décor gives off a cool Colorado-​ski lodge vibe, which reminds me a lot of the west coast. Its warm, quaint, and romantic. The lighting is dim and the and the décor is rustic. I don’t know a lot about Galen Zamarra except for the fact that this place used to be Mas, so I can’t speak to ownership.
Prix Fixe system for the menu is definitely a plus. You can either have a three or five selection for your tasting, and you and your partner’s itinerary don’t have to be the same. Basically, you can mix and match your items without being forced to order what the chef thinks you should be eating. Seasonal dishes, local ingredients. Same organic story. Overall vibe is high-​end but not stuffy.
The waiter and the rest of the staff actually did a great job initially. The hostess was polite; the waiter present, pleasant, and knowledgeable. Then things started to go downhill. Mid-​meal, our waiter literally become non-​existent; so did our food and so did the rest of the staff. The consistency in what had been good service rapidly changed for the worst. The last part of the meal service was so unsatisfactory, we wanted to get up and leave.
Most importantly, the food was mediocre. The flavors weren’t up to par and neither was the quality. As an amuse bouche, they served ahi tuna. Like really? You’re claiming to be high-​end. Also, it just wasn’t fresh. We then ordered the fluke crudo and oysters. Fluke wasn’t fresh either and there were oyster-​shell sediments, sand, and grit with each bite; rookie mistakes. Then for entrees we ordered the «trout» with Israeli couscous. The fish was not a trout and the couscous was not Israeli. The flavors were a complete miss and nothing memorable. Cauliflower dish was pretty good but nothing special. The breaking point were the scallops. The dish came out cold and after refusing to eat it, the waitress said she could re-​heat it. I CAN’T DEAL. After this, we skipped the dessert. Who stays for dessert? I could honestly go on, but clearly, its not worth it.
This place maybe has high hopes and overall a good concept but needs work. Sighs… Ambition is the key word. I understand that they may still be getting their feet wet. At least I would hope I would be able to blame it on this fact.

Just had dinner here for Valentine’s Day with my boyfriend. My boyfriend booked this place because it was rated one of the best new restaurants in the city and they had a special prefix menu for Valentine’s Day.
Honestly, everything on the pre fix menu was nothing spectacular. Some dishes had too much flavor and wasn’t right while other dishes were just too bland.
I’m usually good with finishing food even if I don’t like it but this particular appetizer was just simply bad. It was called the butternut squash tart that was just too much for my palette. It seemed like the chef was bored and threw random ingredients to make a dish. I just couldn’t force myself to finish this after the second bite… So I pushed it to the side.
But thankfully, the waitress being genuinely worried immediately came over and asked if there was something wrong with the dish. I politely told her everything was fine but I was finished. To my surprise 5 minutes later, the manager came over and apologized and asked if we wanted anything else from the prefix menu. My boyfriend and I said it wasn’t a problem at all and not to worry but she kept insisting that we can order anything else from the menu, even another dessert. We were so touched by the gesture that we accepted the offer and went for a 3^rd dessert. If I had to choose the best part of the meal, it would be the dessert but like any dessert, it was good. But nothing great
I give 2 stars for the impeccable customer service but that’s about it. The food was subpar but the service made up for it.
My boyfriend paid $ 380 for this dinner and I couldn’t understand why a prefix menu like that would be this expensive. After he paid, we kept talking about how we could’ve gone to higher end restaurant for better food… for the same price.
There were also a couple of things that really irked me while observing this place… The pre fix menu has four courses so I didn’t think there was a need for the waitress to have a note pad. Even with the note pad, she got confused with our order and the table next to us. I’ve been to many high end restaurants and tell tale sign of a great restaurant is how the waitress takes orders. I just though it was very bizarre…
The first thing I noticed when the first course came out was not the food but rather the hideous dish that came from my grandma’s grave. After the second course came out, I couldn’t stop getting annoyed of the design on the dish. It looked like it was on sale $ 4 at JC Penney. I felt like I was eating at a Olive Garden or perhaps that’s a diss to Olive Garden.
Take your money and go to a restaurant that has better quality food like Piora, Per Se or Jean George’s!

What an incredible experience this was from start to finish. We’ve been spoiled many times before at Almanac’s sister restaurant mas (farmhouse), so the bar was high, but we were not disappointed. In fact, my boyfriend stated that Almanac had surpassed mas as his new favorite.
Just as at mas the service was exemplary – attentive, warm, and knowledgeable of both wine and the seasonal menu. The wine pairing was perfectly attuned to the flavors of each dish. And the dishes were inspired, beautifully composed, and incredibly delicious.
Favorite things? The beautiful, cozy décor – second to none. The quality of the service, inviting you to soak in the total experience at your own pace. And if you make it there soon do partake of the mushroom soup and the chocolate chip cheesecake!

Summary:
A restaurant providing the best tastes of the season. Amazing place for a special occasion.
The Food:
The menus are seasonal and it is a tasting menu type of spot. They do allow you to get dishes a la carte which is what we ended up doing as we weren’t hungry enough for even the 3 course tasting. The lamb breast dish was absolutely divine. The lamb melted in your mouth with the layered tastes of fall and early winter (butternut squash and risotto). The striped sea bass was amazing and had several very subtle flavorings and seasoning.
The Atmosphere:
Surprisingly empty for a Saturday night but could have been an off night due to the holidays. My girlfriend and I came here for our Christmas dinner and this place fit the bill for the special occasion.
The Service:
Very friendly staff, especially the hostess Emily. She was quite professional and arranged a very nice table for us upstairs. Our server also gave us great recommendations and provided me with a great wine pairing for my sea bass.
Overall, a great place if you’re into seasonal food that is well prepared and flavors well layered. A very good spot for a special occasion or a hot date. Great location close to several great bars (Little Branch and the Garret).