Marea – Coastal Italian Cuisine Loaded with Accolades
When picking restaurants, I use existing reviews to research the background of the establishment, the style of the cuisine, and the suitability of the occasion. What I usually disregard is the actual review judgment itself. As I mentioned in the earlier review on Michael White’s Alto Restaurant, research usually leads me from one restaurant to the next. Having tried and thoroughly enjoyed Alto, it was only natural that the next destination be another one of his restaurants. This week we shall continue the Michael White trilogy of Michelin Starred restaurants, as we visit Marea.
As much as I usually try to disregard accolades, this restaurant is an exception. Within its first year of existence, the coastal Italian restaurant raked in 3 Stars from the NY Times, 1 Michelin Star, and was named the New Restaurant of the Year at the James Beard Award. Wow. In a public interview, Chef White mentioned that the restaurant was turning away over 200 diners a day as it’s constantly at capacity, and this was before the James Beard win.
Scoring a reservation was tricky, but luckily I spotted a cancellation online and quickly claimed the table. Even on a weekday, the battle on Opentable is fierce for this place.
We arrived at 8, prime dinner schedule and it shows. The front of the room was jam packed with patrons, and the dining room was buzzing as well. It felt like all of New York’s stylish and wealthy elite and caught on to the recent awards, and all decided to come on a rainy Tuesday. The atmosphere was light and casual, but it wasn’t showing through the outfit of most diners. As we all know, New Yorkers like to out-dress their peers.
The seafood focused menu offered many choices, and soon the party all made diverse selections.
The amuse was sashimi salmon on skewers, nice and refreshing.
Sashimi skewers of salmon
Then came the appetizers which we shared as a table. We started with 4 pieces of uni (sea urchin) topped with lard, which I would have preferred to eat only the uni. The lightly smoked yellow tail was excellent, so was the Oregon morel stuffed with seafood, and the grilled octopus. Each dish were cooked very well and priced reasonably given the portions and quality.
Stuffed shroom with seafood
Grilled octopus
Urchin over toast, covered with lard
For the entree, 3 of us went for different varieties of pasta, which were clearly labeled on the menu as handmade. One of us went for scallops, in my opinion a quick yardstick to measure the skills of the kitchen.
Perfectly cooked scallops
Fusilli (yes I looked it up afterwards)
Lobster raviolli
For dessert, we spotted something very similar to our favorite dessert at Alto. It was great, but failed to wow us like the version at the Northern Italian restaurant.
Penna cotta, almost as good as the one in Alto
All in all, this is great addition to Michael White’s expanding empire, as his 3 restaurants now cover 3 distinct styles of Italian cuisine. Marea hits a sweet spot with its focus on seafood (a worthy challenger to Le Bernardin), upscale but casual atmosphere, and great location on Central Park South. If you can nab a reservation (click the link below to find out), then do go give this place a try.
CS
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Marea (Make a Reservation)
240 Central Park South
New York, NY 10019
