As the chef at Bridgeman’s in Hull for eight years, Wahlberg was silently visible through the open kitchen — easy to spot by his familial resemblance to movie star brother (and Alma Nove investor) Mark. But at Alma Nove, in his own place, he has become a warm host and appears happy that he has built his longtime dream, and that the people have indeed come.
The cherry on top of the new restaurant is the glassed-in area that curves around the outside of the building, complete with tables, comfy couches, and a cozy fire pit. There’s nothing else like this around here (it feels like Miami or LA) and seemed instantly to have become the place to see and be seen — by people of all ages — on the many warm nights we’ve had this summer. (If you get cold out there, one of the many blue-shirted servers will happily offer you a house shawl.)
We’ve eaten at Alma Nove half a dozen times since it opened, and found it packed on all the dinner visits. Even last weekend, after Labor Day banished the summer crowds, we were lucky to get a bar table one evening, and snagged the last patio spot on a subsequent weekend lunch.
Time has helped Wahlberg and sous chef Jim Caputo iron out some of the restaurant’s early kinks, both out front and in the kitchen, and last weekend’s meals left us craving more.
One of the evening’s specials, the seared scallops appetizer ($14) was perfect atop baby spinach as tastefully dressed as a Hollywood star. Drops of a balsamic reduction thick as molasses sweetened each bite, while Wahlberg’s house oven-dried tomatoes offered another world of flavor with their deeply pungent, salty, sweet, and sour notes.
The shrimp appetizer ($12.50) on the lunch menu was every bit as good, maybe better: Four jumbo, springy shrimp presented in a light, garlicky broth that I dipped my bread into until it was gone.
