Marea

When my friends ask my for a list of to eats in NYC, Marea will definitely be there. The food is absolutely phenomenal and the atmosphere is also very sophisticated yet not stuffy. Here is the Menu.  Marea is without a doubt one of my favorite places for a nice meal in the city and I guarantee that you will not be disappointed. The space is beautiful and the service is polite and professional. The ONE thing that I was a bit put off by was due to an incident that occurred when T visited. Although Marea is not a super prim and proper restaurant, it is still a elegant place and I would expect a certain level of dress code to be maintained. A man was dressed in cut off denim shorts and although the manager did make a face, the man in the ghastly shorts was still able to dine that night. I feel that that is unacceptable for a restaurant of this calibre and that they should uphold their dress code. I understand that it is awkward to tell a patron that their attire is unacceptable but that is something that patrons should have the decency to check on before showing up for their meal. But apart from that I absolutely love Marea and am looking forward to return.

Amuse Bouche
The salmon with creme fraiche was a delectable amuse bouche and prepared my tastebuds for the amazing meal ahead.

Ricci - Sea Urchin, Lardo, Sea Salt 
Ahhhhhhhh I LOVE THIS. I had this with my parents and went with T again when visited, unfortunately they told us that it was sold out that night and I was absolutely distraught to say the least. The uni was so fresh and sweet and the thin piece of lardo provided just the perfect amount of flavor and fattiness. The toast was perfectly thin and crispy. This is purely DREAMY. Please do compare this with the sad version from Fish and Meat that I previously reviewed.

Ostriche - East and West Coast Oysters with Morellino Mignonette & Cucumber-Lemon Vinaigrette 
Fresh and delicious oysters. Not a must order but great if you are in the mood for oysters.

Fusilli - Red Wine Braised Octopus, Bone Marrow
The pasta is out of the world delicious. The texture is just like nothing else. It is so perfectly chewy and you can just tell that there was so much effort into perfecting it. The sauce was so delectably rich and bursting with flavor. The octopus was cooked perfectly the entire dish was just perfectly executed. 

Strozzapreti - Jumbo Lump Crab, Sea Urchin, Basil
I think that we changed the pasta because this does not look like strozzapreti. But I am quite certain it is the pasta with crab and sea urchin. Once again, the dish was just perfect. The pasta was top notch and all the flavors of each component of the dish was highlighted yet worked harmoniously together. 

Risotti - Forgot the name
Unfortunately since this visit was a while ago, I do not remember the exact name of this dish yet I know that the risotto was also executed perfectly. Essentially every dish of this meal was amazing. 

Budino Di Cioccolato - Dark Chocolate Crema, Black Olive, Olive Oil, Apricot Sorbetto
Not only are their mains and appetizers good, the dessert was also amazing! The chocolate budino was so luscious and creamy and although I usually do not enjoy olive oil based desserts I did really enjoy this combination. 

Marea is definitely a top choice of mine in NYC and I look forward to returning to try other dishes here. I actually went here again with T as mentioned above and will post the photos from that visit soon! 

Marea

240 Central Park South 

New York

NY10019