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.