Update: Kim Alter left Plate Shop as of May 2011. Evidently, the entire kitchen staff departed as well. No word on what the scuttlebutt was, but I hope Kim lands somewhere soon so that I can get my hands on her food again. Read here.
A lovely new restaurant opened up in the equally lovely Sausalito. Brought to you by Chef Kim Alter, Plate Shop specializes in California food and drink. What does that really mean? It means a lot more than you think. Alter, who did tours through the prestigious kitchens of Aqua, Gary Danko, Manresa, and Ubuntu, offers you her own sense of what California cuisine is. And it truly is her own cuisine. She is the chef, but she’s also the gardener, the butcher, and the pastry chef. The girl ain’t playin’. She’s been working on her garden diligently since April 2009, and her menu primarily offers what’s in her garden (although she will outsource if necessary — local, of course). She takes a nose-to-tail approach with her meats, offering entree selections featuring a variety of preparations and parts of a particular protein (I’m good at alliteration, eh?). And dammit, the woman put monkey bread on her menu! Plus, she has an amazing list of cocktails that will make even the most fastidious of teetotalers tempted to stray to the dark side. So tourist or not, Plate Shop in Sausalito is worth the visit.
Beet Salad
Spring Salad
Scallop and Pig
Smoked Risotto (with Uni)
Pâté en Croute (this is my kind of pigs in a blanket!)
