Tonight, Chris’s parents took us to the renowned and highly respected restaurant Attica as our early Christmas present. Attica is on pretty much every list for the world’s best restaurants, and after dining here, it’s hard to see why it would not be on the list. Although Chris and I have been privileged enough to have dined at some of the best restaurants around the world and especially in New York City, the dining experience at Attica was in a world of its own. New York City’s Eleven Madison Park is probably the top overall dining experience I’ve ever had when it comes to uniqueness of local ingredients, presentation, and outstanding but unpretentious service, but Attica takes “local” to another level. The chef who has now bought the restaurant is originally from New Zealand, and he grew up on a farm where he was accustomed to eating things grown right in front of him. He wanted to bring that experience to his restaurant, and so he incorporates hyper-local ingredients that you literally can find only in Australia, such as wattle seed, bunya bunya nut, Santa Claus melon, plum pine (he’s obsessed with this, as it’s literally everywhere on the dinner and cocktail/mocktail menu), and anise myrtle, among other seafood, greens, and herbs.

Attica has its own back patio where the staff grows its own herbs and vegetables, and before dinner service, they snip the vegetables and greens minutes before being served. They also use the land at the Rippon Lea Estate across the street as grounds to grow fresh produce. And given that the air is cleaner and fresher here than it is in New York City, I’d trust this produce more than the produce being grown on rooftop gardens or back patios in Manhattan. Attica is one of the freshest dining experiences I’ve ever had, and with beautiful plating that is reminiscent of Eleven Madison Park. One of the dishes is kangaroo completed covered with thinly sliced purple carrot. We learned from one of the cooking shows featuring Attica that each of these dishes takes about five minutes for the kitchen staff to hand plate.

Another thing that was notable and unique about the restaurant was how diverse the kitchen staff is. With most kitchen staffs I’ve seen in New York, the people working in the front of house are primarily white, while the back of house/cooking staff are Latino/white. Here at Attica, the kitchen staff represents all colors and areas of the world. Accents were varied depending on the person, and it was refreshing to see this for the very first time in such a world-acclaimed restaurant.  Attica is representative of everything good and progressive about the world. Now, if only other famous restaurants could mimic this desire for diversity, as well as other major companies around the world.