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.

Food Rundown:

Tonno
As a rule of thumb, if ordering a la carte, go heavy on the generous antipasti and pastas and easy on the overpriced crudo dishes. This crudo plate of raw big eye tuna with oyster crema and crispy artichokes is tasty and most definitely worthy of consideration, even if the portion is small.

Passer
A Long Island fluke crudo in lemon thyme and olive oil. A little boring somehow…I’d skip this next time.

Astice (crudo)
If you dig raw lobster this is for you – bite sized pieces of Nova Scotia lobster, sun dried tomatoes, olives, and plum. If you like your lobster cooked, go with the Astice off the antipasti menu, which is amazing.

Astice (antipasti)
This dish is incredible. I don’t even like cheese, but I loved this. Nova Scotia lobster, fresh burrata, eggplant and basil. A must order.

Polipo
This grilled octopus would be the best thing on the menu if it weren’t for so many other best things on the menu…like the pastas and the steak (see below). Served with smoked potatoes and pickled red onion, this creation is a perfectly crafted balance of beautiful flavors and presentation.

Moleche
Is there a better season than soft-shell crab season? Aside from football season, no. Check this guy out. He’s the man. A full semolina-dusted soft-shell crab with marinated cucumber, mandarin yogurt, and almonds. Yum.

Ferratini
As previously alluded to, the pastas at Marea, just like at White’s other excellent restaurants, Convivio and Alto are the star. This one is a penne like style pasta with manila clams, calamari and hot chilies. Spicy and delicious.

Fusilli
If you’re forced to decide on one pasta, this should be it. This shit is straight up dreamy. Fusili with red wine braised octopus and bone marrow. Ridiculous.

Spaghetti
Another mind numbing pasta concoction of fresh cut semolina pasta, crab, Santa Barbara sea urchin and basil. So good.

Spada
For the not-so-adventurous, feel free to roll with this grilled Hawaiian swordfish. It’s a little less exciting than the rest of the menu, but it’s a great piece of fish and will get the job done.

Capesantein
I’m not going to lie, the scallops were a bit disappointing. They were cooked perfectly and presented well, but there was something a little overbearing going on with the sauce. Not sure exactly what part of the pancetta, spring garlic, candied orange or brown butter sugo that threw me off, but something was funky.

Bistecca
Holy cow. This steak right here is incredible, and is the best single bite of meat I’ve eaten all year. A grilled Creekstone Farms sirloin that’s been dry aged for 50 days, and comes to your table with a delicious, marbelized bone marrow panzanella glaze. It’s worth all $49, almost a buck for every day of dry aging.

A while back in our Kanoyama review, we talked about the three tiers of sushi restaurants in New York. This is most definitely a Tier One sushi establishment. It’s upscale, it’s expensive, and it’s good enough for me to consider earning a criminal record for. Why is it worth all that? Well to start, the fish is incredibly good. Everything is fresh and authentic, and will make you realize why people freak out over things like fresh uni and toro. It’s also a pleasant environment for a meal – a good option for a date or a business meeting…which can’t be said for many of the other elite sushi restaurants in town. Here’s the thing though – if you are dining for either of those reasons, make sure you go with people that want to get down on a serious sushi experience. If you’re bringing someone that’s going to ask for the spicy mayo, skip 15 East and go somewhere cheaper. That ain’t this how this place gets down, and you shouldn’t drop a car payment on somebody who would be just as happy with a mango tempura jalapeno red dragon roll.

Food Rundown:

Omakase
This is definitely the way to go at 15 East, and you do it at the sushi bar. Ordering omakase at the table takes the fun out of it, and you miss the presentation and description…a plate simply arrives. Things that stood out to us? The toro was incredible, as were the two types of fresh uni. The mackerel was surprisingly good (usually not a fan), and the fluke was also fantastic. The scallop and salmon are both things that we typically don’t love, but did this time. I guess it’s all about doing it right.

Tako Yawarakani
A signature dish at 15 East, this is probably the most tender octopus you will ever eat. It’s poached in sake, sliced, and served with sea salt. So good.

Soba Noodles
A stone bowl full of delicious noodles in a cold broth. We add caviar, because we’re ballers.

Kumamoto Oysters
My number one favorite oyster, and 15 East does them right and serves them with a sweet yet delicate ponzu sauce to accompany.

In fairness to the Momofuku Ko system, it’s actually a very democratic, albeit competitive process for securing a reservation. No special treatment, no secret phone number, just log onto the website and pray that one of the 70 available dinner seatings for the week will be open. Repeat. Should you manage to secure a reservation, this is what you need to know. It’s going to be an expensive meal. It’s $125 per person just to eat dinner, and drinking will cost you quite a bit more. That hefty price tag affords you very little in the way of traditional luxuries. No white tablecloths (no tables, actually), no doting waiters, and no busboys with breadcrumb scrapers. Just a front row seat to some of the most creative cooking you can find anywhere…and some really good tunes. If you’re expecting fine dining for that kind of money and want to show off your new boat shoes at dinner, allow us to suggest Eleven Madison Park. We love that place too. But if you’re looking to put a notch in your culinary experience belt, Momofuku Ko has to be on your list. Good luck getting in.

Photo Credit: Noah Kalina

Food Rundown:

Our standard food rundown seemed inappropriate for a Momofuku Ko meal. Part of the experience is sitting down and having your mind blown by the unexpected. Plus it doesn’t seem fair to rave about something that may or may not be on the menu when you visit. However, there are a few things that will definitely happen that we can touch on.

You will have somewhere in the neighborhood of ten to twelve courses.

One of those courses will have frozen, grated foie gras on it.

You will like that.

Some things will be simple and delicate, others bold and complex.

There is an arc to the meal – the best things will come in the middle.

A least three things that you eat will confuse you and at the same time make you very happy.

At least one dessert will be served (we had two).

When you pay $250 a person for a seat, you best believe that every course is going to be scrutinized like an episode of Lost. Expectations couldn’t have been higher, and both the food and service delivered in every way possible. Unlike some elaborate tasting menus, this nine course feast isn’t an exercise in how far your belly can expand, it’s more of an adventurous road trip for your taste buds to experience. There’s no better tour guide than Thomas Keller, who proves why the New York Times declared French Laundry as, “the most exciting restaurant in America.”

Until you actually step foot inside and see how small it is (15-20 tables, max), it’s hard to comprehend how The Laundry can possibly be the hardest reservation to get in North America. Are there really that many people in Yountville, CA desperate to unload their piggy banks on any given night? To secure a table, you have to call exactly two months ahead of time, right when they open, and only then do you stand a fraction of a chance of getting through. It’s like trying to be the 100th caller when Z100 is giving away Lady GaGa tickets.

My one complaint is the fact that the setting of the restaurant doesn’t reflect it’s geographic location at all. You’re dining in one of the most beautiful places in the world, at one of the finest culinary establishments in the world and if you didn’t know any better you could be eating in a basement in Kansas City. The dining room is as plain and stuffy as they come, especially downstairs where we sat. At least upstairs, you might get an open window with a view. With the exception of a small outdoor area by the entrance (which isn’t exactly conducive to hanging out) and an alleged garden across the street, that’s all you get as far as lush, green grounds. We may have deducted a few points for decor, but as far as food goes, this was by far, one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten.

Food Rundown:

Oysters and Pearls
Are you kidding? No, seriously? Are you f*cking kidding? Food porn to the max right here, and this dish takes the form of Sasha Gray. If the goal here was to pique my interest, consider me aroused. Their famous “Oysters and Pearls” creation is possibly the tastiest thing my mouth has ever come in contact with. A sabayon of pearl tapioca with Island Creek oysters and white sturgeon caviar. Delicious.

Roasted Hawaiian Hearts Of Palm
Such a small plate of food, but so much going on. Small chunks of a South American Gros Michel banana, combined with small pieces of roasted palm, cashews, Belgian endive relish, cilantro and banyuls- curry gastrique. Sounds like a lot, but I promise you it all works. I finished this in about three bites – granted, the entire content of this dish could fit in a tablespoon, so really no big feat there.

Grilled Fillet Of Gulf Coast Cobia
What looks like a light piece of white fish is actually a hearty, steak-like piece of Cobia, bursting with flavors thanks to morel mushrooms, green asparagus, demi-sec tomatoes, arugula and caper vinaigrette.

Sashimi Of Japanese Bluefin Tuna
While not the crowd favorite, due to the fishiness of the Hokkaido Coast sea urchin and Tomales Bay clams that accompanied the tuna, the fish lovers at the table (like myself) approved. The actual slices of tuna tasted like butter.

Sweet Butter-Poached Maine Lobster Tail – aka “Peas and Carrots”
I’ve eaten a lot of lobster tails in my day, and this was indeed the finest. Check the Twitpic and try and tell me you don’t need a bib for all that projectile drool escaping your mouth and rolling down your chin. Sweet, savory lobster coated in an intoxicating butter sauce with English peas and Nantes carrots. Awesome.

Liberty Valley Farms Pekin Duck
This dish made us want to club Thomas Keller over the head, toss him into our trunk, move to Liberty Valley (wherever that might be), and hunt duck for the rest of our lives. That’s how good this was. Enough said.

Elysian Fields Farm Lamb Rib-Eye
A re-occurring staple on the menu, this ribeye of lamb was perfectly cooked; pink in the middle and dark around the edges. Rich flavors from pole bean cassoulet, jingle bell peppers, parsley and sauce gremolata caused a serious party in my mouth.

Dessert
By the time dessert rolled around, we were so high on food, they could have thrown a Duncan Hines cupcake in front of us and we wouldn’t have known the difference. We sampled the pre-dessert course, a Royal Blenheim Apricot Sorbet as well as both dessert options of the night: Cremeux Aux Fruits De La Passion (Silverado Trail strawberries, pistachio “pain de gêne,”and white chocolate sorbet and Pane Di Ricotta Alla Griglia (delta blue blueberries, pine nut nougatine, “limone cagliata” and buttermilk sherbet. Food high aside, they were all phenomenal.

“The” Blue Hill experience is the Stone Barns experience – a fantastic petting zoo for adults where you get to eat all the animals. Blue Hill New York is a top-tier New York City restaurant that’s equally ideal for Special Occasions, but is better suited for a fancy date night (just ask Obama) rather than Mom’s birthday or an anniversary. All the same farm-to-fork principles that you find upstsate are in place at BHNY, and the service is amazing. You’ll also still find unmatched dedication to serving quality ingredients, a great wine list, and some incredibly memorable food. Just don’t cross a trip to the Stone Barns off your list after dinner having dinner here. That’s a field trip everyone needs to make at least once. You look like you could use a day or two out of the city anyway.

Food Rundown:

Maine Sea Scallops
A tasty scallop dish, served up with a citrus marmalade and some endive. A good way to start the meal, especially for conservative diners, but we reccomend going for something with more vegetation on the plate instead.

Beet Greens and Swiss Chard Tortellini
A fantastic starter with ricotta cheese, kale, a few really delicate and tasty tortellini, and some hazelnuts. Hazelnuts make everything better.

Stone Barns Berkshire Pig
This was as good as the Berkshire pig we ate at the Stone Barns, but the shelling beans and black trumpet mushrooms on the plate don’t hold a candle to the Stone Barns carrots. A great piece of pork nonetheless.

Rabbi Bob’s Veal
We aren’t sure who Rabbi Bob is exactly, but he must really enjoy some baby cow. This is a pristine cut of veal, served on a bed of chickpeas, hummus, and root vegetables (at least in the winter).

Wild Striped Bass
Sure, the fish dishes are solid at Blue Hill…but you should be ordering something that comes out of a land mammal. This striped bass was fine, but was definitely not the star of the table.

New York City has developed quite the obsession with local and sustainable food over the last few years. Ramps show up for the first time of the season at The Union Square Greenmarket, and people buzz about it like someone just figured out time travel. Every year. Those kind of people and that kind of culture has to exist for a place like Blue Hill to be truly appreciated. If you still eat more Fruit By The Foot than actual fruit, this might not be the best way for you to spend a few hundred bucks and four hours of your life. But if you’re the type of person that desperately wants to meet a pig in person and then eat it, rent a car.

As for the facts, you probably know that chef and owner Dan Barber is a badass. You probably also know that the majority of what you eat at Blue Hill comes from the farm that the restaurant is situated on. This makes for an incredible meal that you leave in the chef’s hands, known as the Farmer’s Feast. It’s a marathon of a dinner (ours lasted well into the next morning and we sat at 9:00), but it will blow your mind. The quality of the ingredients and the creativity in which they are presented is unparalleled, and as good as advertised. What really impressed us though, was the attention to the experience as a whole, and the over-the-top efforts that the staff made to ensure that we learned something. Want to know what was in that incredible brioche thing you just had? Suddenly some dude comes out of nowhere and puts a bowl of grains and an ostrich egg on the table. Curious about that watercress? It just so happens that the poor kid that picked it this morning is putting in a shift at the restaurant just so he can serve it to you. That’s dedication to the cause, and it’s executed with class on all levels. We highly reccomend that you make your own field trip to Stone Barns, and if you want to get the most out of your journey, we suggest going well ahead of your reservation time. Roam the grounds, have a drink on the terrace, maybe help that kid pick some watercress. He looked like he could use it.

Food Rundown:

Early Rounds
Something that is important to know for endurance purposes: if it wasn’t put in front of you on your own plate, it probably doesn’t count as a course. We were probably served five or six different things before we actually hit the main event, and the pre-game was awesome. Things kicked off with some fresh carrots and radishes, an amazing pancetta wrapped and sesame crusted asparagus, deep fried whole smelt, a charcuterie plate of veal salami and coppa, and tiny asparagus “burgers” that were sweet like an apple Jolly Rancher.

Veal Marrow with Caviar
Not that a perfectly roasted veal bone needs anything on it, but caviar and coarse salt does not make it worse, that’s for sure. It definitely makes it saltier, but we loved everything about it – including the handy bone scraping tool we were given.

Red Fife Brioche with White Pepper and Fresh Ricotta
This is the aforementioned dish that was followed by a short lesson on grains and why ostrich eggs are the perfect binder for said grains. Red Fife is a kind of wheat, and this was basically a perfect, dense piece of fresh bread made from the stuff, and topped with fresh ricotta cheese. So buttery, and so good.

Potato Bread with Carrot Salt
It feels strange to be writing about what was essentially our bread basket, but we need to discuss carrot salt, which is a powdered carrot mixed with salt. It’s bright orange, and it makes fresh baked bread taste even better. It’s actually so good that I’ve been trying to figure out how to powder a carrot in my apartment for the last week and all I have to show for it are orange fingers and failure.

Shellfish Soup
This was a small bowl of incredibly good soup with shrimp, mussels and clams. At the beginning of your feast, the server will ask you what you don’t like or can’t eat, and they’ll plan accordingly. One person at our table received a mushroom soup instead of the shellfish, and it was also awesome. Impressive.

Asparagus, Wild Watercress, and Crab Salad
Asparagus is in season, and we had A LOT of it while we were at Blue Hill. Almost too much. This dish was incredible though. The crab was some of the sweetest crab we’ve ever tasted.

Pullet Egg with Spring Vegetable Pistou
This one came with another lecture about eggs, and why a pullet egg is so good. Unfortunately it was like two in the morning at that point, and I remember nothing other than breaking the egg into the fresh vegetable broth and being very happy.

Asparagus Cannelloni with Marscapone Cheese and Shaved Embryonic Chicken Egg
A tightly wrapped, thin cannelloni with asparagus, which is then dusted with the shavings from a dried and cured embryonic egg. It looks pretty gross, but it tastes a bit like a rich and salty cheese. This was one of my favorite dishes.

Berkshire Pork Rack
We were actually a bit disappointed that our meal was light on the pig. I had sort of imagined going into the barn, picking one out, and riding him into the kitchen. Maybe next time. At any rate, this was an unbelievable cut of pork served with a sliver of pork fat and some of the best carrots I’ve ever had.

By no means are we claiming that dell’anima is some under the radar date haven that nobody else knows about. Ask any female that lives west of 7th Avenue and she will probably have this place in her top ten. We’re big fans too, and also hold sister restaurant L’Artusi in high regard. Both are great date spots and both have a vanity apostrophe, which makes them cool or Italian or something. Both can also be loud and a bit sceney at times, though dell’anima is much smaller and more intimate. We like dell’anima specifically for the ample bar seating and chef’s counter, perfect for a more casual meal, and making it a great First/Early in The Game Date destination. We also like it because the food is pretty damn spectacular. There are a few really special pasta dishes, and some sharable first courses that are excellent. The wine list is smart though a bit pricey, but there are a handful of good bottles under forty bucks to choose from.

One thing to note – we’ve heard some recent feedback from the field that both dell’anima and L’Artusi are too heavy handed with the salt in some dishes. These chefs definitely don’t shy away from seasoning, so take that into account. I happen to have dangerously low blood pressure, so it’s good for me.

Food Rundown:

Bruschetta
A bowl of crostini, served with your choice of bruschetta in a tiny bowl to spread on top. We reccommend ordering a few. The options change regularly, but we really like the avocado and the rapini pesto.

Charred Octopus
A few grilled octopus arms on a bed of tiny white beans with fennel sofrito. Top notch.

Vognole
Kind of a strange dish – small clams in a bowl that seem to be missing the pasta. Good with some extra crostini if you have them lying around from the bruschetta.

Endive Salad
A nice light salad of endive spears with anchovy and pecorino. Pretty straightforward.

Tagliatelle Alla Bolognese
A nice pasta, but not their best. As with all the pastas, the homemade noodles are excellent, but this bolognese isn’t quite as meaty and rich as we’d like it to be.

Garganelli
Almost like a pasta version of the dish we freaked out over at L’Artusi. A simple bowl of short tube noodles with mushroom, parsley and lemon. Mind blowing and perfect.

Tajarin
A noodle similar to tagilatelle but thinner. This is a fan favorite at dell’anima, and rightfully so. It’s a take on carbonara with a poached egg and speck instead of bacon. Hearty but not terribly heavy, and really good.

Orata
A good option from the entree menu, a nice light piece of fish that’s a can be a pleasant break from some of the aggressive seasoning you’ll find elsewhere on the menu.

As for the food, the $62, four course tasting menu is a steal. This is first class dining at an affordable price. While the antipasta and main courses are solid, the pasta is the main event, and the reason you need to immediately make a reservation. We’re talkin’ next level shit. It’s so good that we would like to formally petition for a full pasta tasting menu a la Convivio’s sister restaurant Marea.

Service is low key, but incredibly informative. Our waiter knew every dish inside and out, and was pleasant but not overbearing. Almost everything we ate met or exceeded expectation, and we had a good time. We will say though, those Tudor City suits must be on a tight leash. The place was completely empty by 10pm. So while Convivio does have an excellent Outdoor/Patio Situation, perfect for a Special Occasion, don’t expect things to get too wild.

Food Rundown:

Brussels SproutsThe “Sfizi” section of the menu is made up of snack-sized plates of roasted sunchokes, saffron risotto croquettes, and spicy salame. It’s not part of the tasting menu, but is definitely something to pay attention to. Our first round of drinks tasted even better with some brussels sprouts, which came in an excellent vinaigrette with pancetta, and set the tone for the rest of the meal.

Grilled QuailIf you overcook quail ever so slightly, it can come out dry and bland (which we learned at Colicchio & Sons). This one was spot on. Tender, juicy and accompanied by a strong supporting cast of pancetta, radicchio, apples and mushroom. This was one of the better grilled quail dishes we’ve ever had, and we highly recommend checking it out.

Sliced YellowtailWe wanted to get down with a fish antipasti, and our waiter led us to the promised land. This buttery raw white fish was topped with a mix of pistachios and scallions in an olive puree. Every bite was absolutely incredible.

MalloreddusAfter an excellent round of appetizers it was time for the main event: pasta. Our waiter happily broke down just about every single pasta dish on the menu, and we came to the conclusion that I needed to get the Malloreddus. One of their signature pastas, this is a saffron gnocchetti with crab and sea urchin. Words can’t really describe how good this, and all the pasta is at Convivio. You’re just going to have to go and try for yourself. We hear good things about both the fusilli with pork shoulder ragu and the squid ink pappardelle. Put them on your list.

CaramelleRavioli filled with braised oxtail, escarole and pecorino. There wasn’t a chance in hell we were passing this one up. A glorious combination of a well crafted, and perfectly cooked pasta filled with slow cooked oxtail that tasted like the best short rib meat you’ve ever had. We could have easily taken down three orders of this.

Lamb ChopsThe pasta course is tough act to follow. I definitely enjoyed the salsa verde coated lamb chops, but couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that all I wanted was more pasta.

Strip SteakA massive, bone-in, Creekstone Farms strip steak, and it’s a $6 supplement to the prix fixe. For good reason. This is huge compared to the other entrees. The steak itself was extremely flavorful, but was missing that little something extra to make it special. More pasta please.

Fried CauliflowerSomehow, this kind of tasted like popcorn. Awesome.

DessertThe torta looked like something straight out off of Giada’s show, sans TV’s best cleavage. The almond cake with mascarpone cream and sour cherry gelato hit the spot. The bomboloni was solid too, although doughnuts are getting a little played out these days.