MAREA
Main Dining Room. Photo by Monique Muse.
Marea, meaning “tide” in Italian, is a seafood restaurant on Central Park South adorned with two Michelin stars and high praise from the New York Times. The name is fitting; though chef Michael White focuses on sea creatures like fish, lobster, and octopus, his menu ventures freely into land domain as well. Marea’s Michelin review notes that the lamb is “a worthy alternative” to any seafood dish. It raves, too, about the chef’s famous handmade pastas.
Sous Chef Jared Radas. Photo by Monique Muse.
Kitchen prep. Photo by Monique Muse.
The Restaurateur Club was privileged enough to see an inside tour of the Marea kitchens, where Sous Chef Jared Radas showed members the very pasta cutting machines that produce the critics’ favorite noodles. Pasta shapes that are not long strings must be rolled, twisted, or pressed by hand, one at a time. The kitchens staff also demonstrated how to pick the best crab pieces using a blacklight, how a slice of fresh fish goes from wrappings to plate, and, oddly enough, how they escort handicapped guests to the basement private dining room via the kitchen elevator. Most guests must use the stairs to access the cozy enclave, but a special few, said Radas, get a tour of the operation before dining below.
Bar & Lounge. Photo by Monique Muse.
Marea is consistent in this attitude of special care. This comes through in the food, as the Michelin Guide noted in its review, but also in its treatment of clientele. Events Director, Rebecca Levine, noted that if crucial guests like regulars would like a dish not on the menu, someone hunts down the ingredients and Chef crafts it for the table. These guests and their taste for extraordinary fine dining at Marea are, after all, what keep the restaurant consistently booked every night. Marea was bold to open during the recession, bold to open in a city with an 80% restaurant failure rate, and perhaps bolder to open when fine dining was losing popularity—but the tide still brings in a flurry of excited guests every night.
Private Dining Room. Photo by Monique Muse.
Wine Cellar. Photo by Monique Muse.
All photos from the event are available on our Facebook page here.