Marea

Normally during every Thanksgiving Thursday, I cook for my partner some poultry thing whether it be quail or turkey breast. This year we decided to relieve me the duties of frantically looking for materials and cooking for 6 hours for the 2 of us. Marea was closed for a few months, and we’ve always had this on our list. Because it just reopened in October, I decided to pursue the Thanksgiving tasting menu.

Marea has won numerous amount of awards since it opened in 2009 in New York City. In 2012, it had received two Michelin Stars, and then it was downgraded to one Michelin Star. Unfortunately, it lost its star this year, 2023, but that didn’t stop us from deciding to go. We made a reservation at 3:15 PM on a holiday Thursday, and they were able to accommodate us early at 2 PM without issue.

Ambiance & Service

Despite it being Thanksgiving, one would have thought that most folks were at home, but the restaurant was quite busy in fact. The decor felt like an upscale Italian restaurant with large seafood shells decorating the perimeter. We were seated in a small table, and I was not a fan of the seat. The instant you sat in it, you sunk a bit backwards which made it feel a little strange. Despite that, the service itself was very pleasant.

Food

We both ordered the four-course prix fixe menu for $195 per person, and I also ordered the classic wine pairing for $130.

The Royal Blush ($30) came with Grey Goose vodka, morello cherry, lime, mint, and Gosset Brut ‘Grande Reserve’ champagne. This was a pretty expensive cocktail for what it was, but my partner really enjoyed it. It tasted like a bubbly chic drink basically with some citrus and berry accents.

They offered complimentary bread service. From what I recall, they had focaccia, olive bread, and multigrain bread. We chose the focaccia and olive bread. The focaccia had some salt accents on it and was pretty good. The olive bread had plenty of olive flavors, and it tasted pretty good. Both breads were soft and room temperature.

The first pairing was this 2022 Grenache Blanc from Ridge vineyard in northern California. This white wine was selected to compliment my lobster first course. It had some stone fruit flavors, minerality, and was balanced. There was some creamy and subtle after tastes that were pleasant.

The antipasti course for me was the Astice, which came with Nova Scotia lobster, burrata, basil, and eggplant al funghetto. The eggplant was cut and made into little mushroom-looking things. The burrata was atypical to what I was expecting. I was expecting a hard, defined lump of burrata cheese, but it was actually more like a sauce. The lobster was cooked perfectly and was served slightly chilled. The basil and other ingredients were all very subtle. This course definitely matched the first wine pairing pretty well.

The antipasti course for my partner was the Passera, which was fluke crudo, robiolina, kaluga caviar, and everything crumble. Robiolina is like a cream cheese, and the fluke (a fish) sat in this. The fluke was very fresh and tasted great.

The second pairing was the 2018 Passolento which was a verdicchio from Italy from La Marca di San Michele vineyards in the Marche region. This was a white wine that hash some acidity, minerality, and light peach flavors as well. I thought this tasted pretty good with my next dish.

The primi course for me was the Mafaldini Granchio Reale (+$20 supplement) which came with pasta ribbons, king crab, garlic butter, parsley, lemon, and mollica. The pasta ribbons had a nice texture to them, and they definitely scooped the garlic butter and parsley well. The king crab was sweet and a decent amount. Is this worth the supplement? If you’re feeling like you want some king crab, it’s certainly not bad. However, I would say that this is a pricey pasta supplement. They were reasonable with the amount of king crab, but parts of me wish there was even more. The sauce tasted basically like butter, garlic, and some toasted bread crumbs. The flavors were subtle and did not overpower the king crab. Overall, this dish is fairly mild in flavors compared to the octopus.

The primi course for my partner was the Fusilli, which came with red wine braised octopus and bone marrow. The bone marrow added a ton of fat to this, and the octopus had this very noticeable flavor to it that was quite delicious. I would say this dish is quite rich in whatever the red wine sauce was, so it is literally the flavor opposite of the king crab that I ordered. Nevertheless, this is the Marea signature dish, and I can understand why people often rave highly about it. The octopus was quite tender and plentiful, and the fusilli is masterfully bouncy and picks up all the sauce with ease.

The third pairing was the 2021 Chappellet Mountain Cuvee which was a Bordeaux red blend from Napa Valley. It has numerous layers of dark berry fruit, spice, and herbs. To the tongue, the wine comes across slightly acidic, bold, and thick. According to some sites, it has a mixture of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Petit Verdot, 14% Merlot, 12% Malbec, and 5% Cabernet Franc. This would explain why it was a steak wine.

The secondi course for me was the Bistecca, which was a seared Creekstone 50-day dry aged beef sirloin with jus. The steak was cooked a perfect medium rare and had a lot of flavor to it. The wine reduced jus was super thick and tasted great. Paired with the wine, it was easy to tell why they picked the Bordeaux blend for this. It rounded the flavors of the steak and jus quite well.

The secondi course for my partner was the Tacchino, which was roasted turkey and served with pan gravy on the side. The turkey tasted like traditional sliced turkey, so I thought there was nothing great about it. It was definitely on the drier side. The pan gravy was actually pretty flavorful though.

With every table this day, they served a medley of Thanksgiving accompaniments.

• roasted carrots - this had a pleasant crunch. The glaze they used on this was quite good.
• roasted brussel sprouts - this had some pancetta pieces in it, and the brussel sprouts had a lot of flavor form whatever sauced they used.
• whipped mashed potatoes - this wasn’t quite Joel Robuchon, but it was pretty good.
• turkey gravy - this had plenty of flavor and tasted great with the mashed potatoes, and arguably you can drink this too.
• stuffing - this was very surprisingly sublime. The stuffing edges were crispy and had plenty of that stuffing seasonal flavors.
• cranberry - this was easily the star of the show. It tasted like it was freshly made, and they gave you a very nice size amount of cranberries in it. I brought the leftovers home and put it on my pancakes.

The last pairing of the evening was the Moscato D’Asti from Piedmont in northwestern Italy. This was a sweet with a touch of acidity and rounds the next pear dessert course.

The dolci for me was the Pera, which a brown butter torta, poire williams, and pear sorbetto. The way to think about this dessert was basically it had a lot of pear flavors all over ranging from the sorbet to the cream to the poire williams shaped pear. It matched well with the moscato.

The dolci for my partner was the Budino de Riso, which was a spiced rice pudding, caramelized walnut, and apple. The pudding was decent, but was not a standout for my partner. It was definitely more flat in flavor compared to the pear.

Final Verdict

There are a couple very well known NYC institutional restaurants, and I believe Marea one of them. Even though we got a special Thanksgiving menu, there were some items that they serve on their normal menu such as the fusilli. I don’t know if Marea will try for a Michelin Star again, but despite that unknown, it’s a restaurant that people should have on their list at some point. However with the many options in NYC, it does make it difficult to prioritize. After all, it only took me 7 years of being in NYC and 500 NYC restaurants later before I decided to try this place.

If you are near the southern Central Park border, this is right across the street and should wrap up your evening well if you’re into a fancy upscale Italian Seafood evening.

Yelp Jabs

On May 13,2023 I and my girlfriend visited Marea. We sat at the bar and had three drinks. After a half hour the bartender put the check next to me . Then he proceeded at 5 minute intervals to open the check folder to see if it was paid. This happened 3 times. Shortly after another bartender approached me and said “people are waiting “. I was quite surprised at this rude behavior. I am not a tourist and I have lived in NYC all my life. Of course this behavior made me feel uncomfortable and we left. I have visited many restaurants in NYC and this rudeness has never happened.

I thought this was amusing. I’ve seen cases where the bar area can be very packed, and the staff is trying to rotate. Maybe in this case, the bartenders had enough courage to speak up whereas other restaurants had less courage. Despite that, it shouldn’t be hard to pay quickly anyways.

Our entrees came out at the same time, but the duck dish was not warm, suggesting that the timing of the entrees was mismanaged.

Warm is a subjective feeling, but it’s quite possible that the duck was resting as well. The Yelper mentioned the duck was cooked beautifully, so that would also suggest that the temperature of the duck arrived perfectly as well.

Revisions

1. Nov 23, 2023 - Initial revision.