Immaculate Infatuation

Marea definitely needs some good Infatuation press…they haven’t gotten much love lately. Makes you wonder if people around these parts have even heard of it. I mean, it’s only been awarded Best New Restaurant in America by the James Beard Foundation. While we haven’t yet logged enough hours on the road to make that kind of statement, we can definitely say that Chef Michael White makes some of the best pasta in New York City. That would be a bold statement if everyone on earth wasn’t also saying it.

Marea is one of those restaurants, like Eleven Madison Park, you walk into knowing damn well it’s going to be incredible. The food, especially the aforementioned pasta, is exquisite. A few of the dishes, including the lobster burrata, the fusili with octopus (and bone marrow), and the steak are among the best things we’ve eaten all year. Service is top notch as well – the staff know the menu inside and out, and they take excellent care of you. But for all that talk about pasta, it’s good to know this: Marea is a Quality Fish restaurant first, Italian restaurant second. To properly indulge, you’ve gotta be willing to strap on the scuba gear and eat whatever swims your way.

There are two ways to approach a Marea experience, and both are the tasting menu…it just depends on what time of day you want to eat like a baller. For lunch, the two course $42 tasting menu is a steal. That’s a better deal than what you find at most boring ass midtown business lunch destinations. Dinner is almost affordable at $89 a person for a four course tasting menu and a meal of this caliber. Ordering a la carte is always an option as well, but with such a deep menu, you’re going to be better served trying as many things as possible.

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Welcome to the best burger in town. Hidden behind red velvet curtains inside the swank Midtown hotel Le Paker Meridien, is this staged hole in the wall, complete with fake wood paneling and vinyl booths. The menu and ordering instructions are written on cardboard, and you better be ready to roll by the time you make it to the counter (by that point you will have been in line for ten minutes, minimum). Nonetheless, this is well worth the long wait and jockeying for a seat. Sit down with a burger, fries that come in a brown paper bag, and a pitcher of beer. No talking.

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“Selling out” will always be a hotly debated topic. Growing up, my friends and I would spend hours arguing about whether or not our favorite bands were sellouts. Green Day, Rancid, Bad Religion, all bands that were supposed to be so punk, yet signed on with a major label at one point in their careers. Were they sellouts? To a 16 year old, absolutely. But looking back, can you really blame them for trying to make some money? After all, music is a business just like everything else. Is LeBron James a sellout? Hells yes. Sure, he took less money to play in Miami, but LeBron’s selling out doesn’t have to do with the green stuff. Not only did he sell out the city of Cleveland, he sold out his own legacy and all the fans he fooled into believing he had the make up and desire to be one of the greatest players of all time and lead his own team to a championship.

Now on to restaurants. Is Danny Meyer a sellout for popping out Shake Shacks faster than The Duggars pop out Mormon children? Nope, he’s just an opportunistic businessman flippin’ burgers in a silly hat, Reel Big Fish style. Shacks are multiplying at record speed, across NYC and beyond. Meyer just opened a Miami Beach Shake Shack, and has plans for Washington DC, Saratoga Springs, Boston and Dubai. We’re happy to report that this increase in quantity has had no ill effects on the quality. In fact, this Double Shack Burger I recently took down at the Times Square location was hands down the best Shack Burger I’ve ever had in my life.

Be aware going in, Shake Shack Times Square is quite the tourist attraction. As you might expect, that means insane lines, loud music and all kinds of Euros In Crazy Outfits. Good for them. Now all those tourists who fail to make it out of Times Square on their trip can actually get at least one taste of what this city is all about. Nicely done Danny. It doesn’t matter what Johnny Quest thinks, the only thing selling out at Shake Shack Times Square is the merchandise they can’t keep in stock.

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Should we have arrived on this earth centuries earlier, Immaculate Infatuation would have existed as an exclusive dining club instead of an internet circle jerk. Being added to the Infatuation telegram list back then would have been even cooler than being an “ambassador” at The Gates (that was a joke). Every suspenders wearing, pipe smokin’, handlebar mustache rockin’ 19th century hipster would have wanted in on our action. Our home base in this amazing, hypothetical world? Keens.

Keens is as Old New York as you can get. Open since 1885, this place is loaded with history. It’s pretty much the Museum of Natural Meat Eating History. Before it was open to the public, Keens was a members only hangout; a Soho House of sorts for NYC’s most powerful including Teddy Roosevelt and Babe Ruth. 115 years and counting, Keens is still home to one of this city’s best steaks. So good in fact, it’s in our top five NYC steakhouses along with Luger’s, Striphouse, Dylan Prime and Quality Meats.

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Bobby Flay, the ginger boy badass Throwdown king, is obviously about as famous as a chef can possibly be. I like the guy, and if I one day meet him, plan on challenging him to some sort of one on one battle of wills or a slap fight or something. It just seems like the right thing to do. In the interest of increasing the likelihood of said meeting and whatever might ensue thereafter, I have spent more than a few nights at his midtown restaurant, Bar Americain. The newest of the Flay NYC establishments is large, slick, and aimed squarely at the pockets of midtown suits and Times Square tourists who need something besides Ruby Foo’s to tell their friends about when they return home. It’s a huge space, and has an over the top, big money aesthetic you are more likely to find in a Las Vegas mega hotel than on 52nd St. Consider those things and know that – believe it or not – I actually love the place. Flay has built his brand on big Southwestern flavor, and the food at Bar Americain still touts that trademark flair, but it’s more New York than Santa Fe. The twists are subtle but perfect variations on traditional American offerings like the incredible hanger steak and the tuna tartar that packs a spicy kick right at the end of a bite. Thanks Bobby for giving us a place in midtown that doesn’t suck. Now I just need a layaway plan to pay for my meal. You do that right?

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