Marea

Marea is directly off Central Park South, with view a (past the traffic) from the main dining room and bar. The bar area is great for a before dinner drink or after work with a client. Its backdrop of a glowing cross section of a tree nicely compliments the dark wood interior. The stairway to the bathroom was slightly disorienting. It is very dark, shiny, with almost mirror-like dark wood and quite steep. It felt as if I was walking into a fancy funhouse. However, at the bottom it opens up to a fancy private dining room and nice clean and big bathrooms. I heard that if you sit too close to the street side of the restaurant that it gets noisy. We sat in the back and it was busy yet quiet. The restaurant, although full, was quiet and calm, with servers moving about seamlessly. The sommelier introduced us to a chardonnay that I actually liked! Very impressive in itself.


Trio of Crudo: In general, if you need a like pre-appetizer, crudo is the way to go. We tried the trio because, being us, we can not decide on one thing, and aren’t interested in being confined to things like… dishes or… price. So, we got the trio (which in actuality wasn’t overpriced).
- Scallop with orange and cucumber – This was my favorite. The diver scallops were delicious. They were large slices, not so large that you even got a whole scallop, but for a crudo, it was a decent size.
- Tuna with cucumber. This was just ok. The tuna was good, nice and dark, but it was nothing special. I would have liked some wasabi, spicy sauce and a roll instead.
- Branzino with caviar. We got this because we never get sea bass crudo. It was unimpressive and lacked taste. I don’t suggest getting this.

Zuppa. I can’t find it on any of the menus online, and don’t remember the full name. But, it was a delicious creamy pea soup, garnished with my new favorite vegetable, cauliflower. Ok, so this might sound slightly to very slightly like the soup I had at Convivio. To be honest, I didn’t even realize I was ordering a soup, I thought I was ordering scallops, which is what is in the middle of the soup, topped with trout roe. I only read what I want to read on the menus, I guess! The scallops tasted divine and melted in my mouth. I liked the scallops in this dish even better than the scallop crudo. Plus, I’m one of those few people who actually like the large fish eggs (roe). Yes, they can be a bit scary, but when they pop in your mouth its fun right? You eat chicken eggs why not fish eggs?

Lobster appetizer: Astice – Nova scotia lobster, burrata cheese, eggplant al funghetto and baby basil. My boyfriend loved this dish. The lobster was sweet and tender, which was nicely complimented by the creamy burrata cheese (which is an Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream). It was an appetizer portion, so we didn’t expect much, and neither should you. It was probably a small tail wrapped around the dish in a circle. Still good and worth trying.

Mare – Shrimp, clams, scallops and basil risotto. As usual, I got the risotto. The risotto was just ideal for me, not too creamy and not too al dente. Since I love all things crustacean, mare risotto is a never fail dish choice. The only thing I could ask for here is a few more little guys in there. But, even splitting the dish, there was more than enough to eat.

Sturgeon - with spring garlic, morel mushrooms and a sweet sauce. We chose this dish because we never had this fish before. It was a meaty white fish. Not as meaty as swordfish (which I don’t like) but not as flaky as Halibut (which I love). I’m branching out one small meal at a time. I would not even be able to place spring garlic. According to another site, spring garlic is “immature garlic that hasn't yet developed its garlic bulb and has a much milder flavor than the mature bulbs, yet still has that distinct garlic flavor. It can be used in any recipe in place of regular garlic or leeks, and can be used raw or cooked.” Ok… well, that makes sense. It looked like a leek with a small garlic knot on the top, but didn’t smell or taste as potent. This dish was great, simple but a good use of fresh seasonal vegetables that I never would have thought of using. But, that’s why I just eat food, I don’t cook it.

Michael White has done it again. I loved Convivio and now I love Marea. I loved both so much; I am already telling out of town guests and my parents that I want them to check them out. Pretty good response from me, since I rarely have good experiences dining at brand new restaurants. He is one of my new favorites. Not only does he circle the restaurant talking to almost every patron (I obviously did not seem important enough, for he looked right at me and walked away… granted we had just ordered so didn’t have any food and probably looked desperate), but he now has cooked me two good meals in a month. Plus, he looks like a nice jolly fella.

Cornertable does Nashville: Loveless Cafe and Pancake Pantry

Wow… Nashville is quite a town. I barely know where to begin. If you have never been to a Honkey Tonk, its time to go. It’s a mix between a random college bar, the set of Days of Thunder and the Talkhouse in Amagansett, NY. The first time I went to Nashville, we went to a bar called The Stage. There was a live band, and it was obvious they had followers (some cougars, some servicemen and women). A guy even proposed to his girlfriend on the stage. How romantic… I’m sure they will remember everything with fantastic beer goggles.

Onto the good stuff… about a week before I went to Nashville for the first time, I was watching the food network and they had an entire episode dedicated to the wonderful food of Nashville, TN. The two takeaways I got were the Pancake Pantry and Loveless Café.

Pancake Pantry… let’s just start with the line. They don’t take reservations and won’t take your cell phone or even your name. You just have to stand in line…in the heat and sun. They do give you water in Dixie cups, which is nice. Anyway, I heard this place makes the “best pancakes ever.” This is coming from people who actually live in Nashville and are still willing to wait in line. So, that is a good sign. I tried the regular pancakes. I know what you are thinking… when there are a million pancakes to choose from, how could I possibly choose the regular ones?! Well, its simple, people. I just like to keep it real. The Food Network show just went on and on about the special recipe. I wanted to taste it, in it's true, unaltered form. Turns out, it was delish. BUT, I can honestly say that I have eaten a better pancake… I haven’t been to Clinton Street Bakery yet, but my fave pancake is at The Place in the West Village. They are twice as fluffy. The Pancake Pantry’s pancakes were just flat and regular looking. Maybe I was expecting too much out of a pancake. But sorry… it is what it is… just a pancake.

Now, Loveless Café is in a whole world of its own. It’s about 20 minutes outside of the city of Nashville. When I asked a couple people around, would they prefer Pancake Pantry or Loveless Café, they said Loveless for real down-home cooking. Since I had already been to the Pantry, I went with my parents and boyfriend to Loveless Café. Then, 1 hour and 45 minutes later, we were able to sit. Yes, it was that long of a wait. Granted, they are situated in a small make-shift town like atmosphere, so if you have 20-30 minutes to fill, you can. But almost two? No thanks… So, we drove off with their beeper and came back in an hour. (One issue with doing this is that the beeper makes a really annoying and constant beeping sound since it out of range).

Loveless Café is famous for their biscuits (of which Martha Stewart was denied the recipe) and the fried chicken. So, since I’m a fake-a-tarian now, I ordered the chicken fingers. I really couldn’t go all the way like my fellow diners and order the sampler. I would have passed out. Even the chicken fingers came with two sides, of which I got creamed corn (best I’ve ever had) and hash brown casserole. Yes…. I ate chicken fingers, creamed corn and hash brown casserole for lunch. There goes the last nine years of low blood pressure and low cholesterol. I gross myself out.

Back to the biscuits. They were awesome. In my humble opinion, the secret ingredient is pancake mix… because they really did smell, taste and feel like pancakes. That is it. You heard it here first folks. I am the master of secret recipe discovery.

The sampler was three of your choice of meatloaf, fried chicken, pulled pork, catfish or ham (don’t forget the two sides, in case the entrée wasn’t enough). It is hard for me to even explain what the plates looked like when they came to the table. I mean, the four of us (granted mine was considerably smaller) could have fed a family of 15 with the amount we had. But, no one was willing to compromise and share. When in Rome/Nashville!

Speaking of Athens… ok maybe not, but I needed a segue and figured since I was talking about Rome and it is in Europe and so is Greece..., if you have never been to Nashville, you must also check out the full size replica of the Parthenon. No good reason to tell you… just wanted to.

I heart Restaurant Week...

http://nycgo.com/?event=view.article&id=171992&cid=srw_coke_event_062909

Reason 41 to not like Restaurant Week... Who are they catering too? Don't you think that they should be catering to real NYers? The people that actually live here and might go to these restaurants more than once in every 6-7 years (assuming that tourists visit here that many times in their lifetime). How about people that work? Make money for the city's economy? Those people cannot go to a summer event from noon-2 on a weekday. When am I going to see something that is geared towards people who eat their breakfast and lunch at their desk? Then, I will accept restaurant week....maybe.

Anywho... back to your regular scheduled programming...

Convivio

Tucked away in the corner of Tudor City, which someone not from NYC may not even know exists, is the cool little spot Convivio. Even though I saw the sign, I still did not think we were in the right place. I am not sure what I expected, but this was not it. The inside is decorated in a hip chic fashion, with bright oranges against a stark white background. The entire restaurant is understated, in a good way. The tables are not too close together, although I did hear a great conversation from the loud talker to my right. She was very into the NYC foodie scene and apparently has been EVERYwhere and wasn’t afraid to tell EVERYone. Her friends were über impressed. Sadly, I was slightly impressed also. She not only knew about the hip restaurants, but also knew about the owners/chef/gossip, etc. Nevertheless, she just sounded so ridiculous and annoying, yet made good people watching/listening. The mother and daughter next to me weren’t quite as exciting. Ok, ok, I know… This isn’t craigslist’s missed connections (awesome – check it out if you never have).

“OUR MENU IS RECOMMENDED AS A $ 59.00 FOUR COURSE PRIX FIXE”

That is awesome btw. Only $59 for a 4 course meal? Granted, I’m sure the dishes are smaller and you are forced to order a dessert, but still great!

We chose a number of the specials for the evening as our dishes, so you won’t be able to find them on the menu. We had the 4 course tasting menu, starting out with the prawn salad special and the fritedda. Usually I would not start with a soup, since it’s so filling and I like to be able to eat the rest of my meal. But, I went for it. The fritedda is a soup made from fava beans, English peas and artichoke toped with ricotta cheese and pancetta. It was amazing. I love a good pea soup, but this wasn’t heavy on the pea taste. It was a nice combination of pureed artichoke, fava beans (which I happen to love) and peas. The soup was not overly thick and creamy either. I am going to pretend that it had no dairy… just puree of vegetables. The cheese and pancetta just added a meaty flavor to balance out the dish.

This pasta tasted fresh and different. Squid Ink pasta with squid… that’s a lot of squids. Yet, this squid confused me… the waiter told me it was “like calamari” but, I didn’t taste calamari… It was chewier and tasteless. I could have done without it.

Malloreddus – Sardinian saffron gnocchetti, crab, sea urchin – This pasta was excellent with a great balance of the tender gnocchetti, the buttery uni, and crab.

I had some sort of fish. I think it was halibut. I remember thinking it was good, but can’t for the life of me remember what it came with! Oh well for YOU. You should go out to dinner with me more. I can’t continue to do this on my own!...

Costolette di Vitello: The veal chop was crusted with parmesan and was served with polenta croutons, onion salad, veal juice. Ohhhhh polenta croutons. Why do I always flock to the interesting and fun side dishes rather than the main? Granted, there is only so much you can do to a main, in this case veal chop. The veal was good, perfectly cooked, juicy, but it was the sauces and additions that made the dish.

The waiter and sommelier were very knowledgeable, helpful and friendly. I tried the flat prosecco on the sommelier’s suggestion and it was excellent. I tend to drink prosecco when out with the girls, but never had (or knew that it was available) it flat. He also chose me a nice dry white for my dinner. The evening was calming and delicious. I definitely recommend this spot for a date, dinner with your parents, or really, anytime. I did try to make a reservation for 8 people and they only have one table available to seat that many, so it is not good for large groups.

I’ll be updating the blog with one of Michael White’s other restaurants shortly… because I just can’t get enough.