As per the brand Michelin, it started from an annual guidebook from the French Tyre company who awards restaurants with stars. During its inception in 1900, the guide had a purpose to boost the demand for cars and thus tyres where they distribute these guides free of charge to motorist detailing useful information such as hotels, petrol kioks, parking spaces and etc.
Today, the Michelin guide still stands with its reviewers kept anonymous and the stars are awarded based on the following criteria:
One star indicates a very good restaurant in its category, offering cuisine prepared to a consistently high standard. A good place to stop on your journey. Two stars denote excellent cuisine, skilfully and carefully crafted dishes of outstanding quality. Worth a detour Three stars reward exceptional cuisine where diners eat extremely well, often superbly. Distinctive dishes are precisely executed, using superlative ingredients. Worth a special journey.
I managed to visit one of the two-star michelin restaurants during my stay in New York. With the recommendations of my friend, I settled for Marea and the experience was so fascinating, I never looked back. The food albeit is small and pretentious but the flavor is strong and memorable.
Marea means "tide" in Italian, it serves fabulous Italian cuisine in the heart of NYC and it boasts as one of the best restaurants in NY. When you enter the restaurant, there is a gush of silence and pretence as with all fine dining restaurants. But as you settle in slowly but surely, the hosts would take your coats and your belongings and they will make you feel very welcomed.
Surprisingly for a weekday lunch, the restaurant was packed with a huge crowd. As always, reservations are strictly needed. We made our reservations via Opentable through Marea's website directly.
We settled for the set lunch, which is priced as USD$45. I think the price is really worth the visit as this is a 2-star Michelin restaurant. Other similar establishments will cost you at least twice the price.
The complimentary bread was cold and hard. I was surprised as I thought any decent place would at least toast the bread.
For my Antipasti, I picked Astice, which is the combination of nova scotia lobster, burrata, eggplant al funghetto and basil. The lobster was fresh with my favourite burrata cheese and the complement of fruits it definitely serves as an interesting appetizer with a burst of contrasting flavors.
My partner had the Crudi called Sgombro which is a sliced raw fish and shell fish combination with paci fic jack mackerel, tomato, fennel and potato chip topped with trout roe. It was a punch of flavor but the serving could be a tad bigger portion. Hah!
As for our mains, I had their pasta - what is Italian cuisine without the pasta?
I chose the STROZZAPRETI which is a combination of crab, sea urchin, basil. Have you tried Sea Urchin or Uni before?
It is what I call, the taste of fresh seafood, a punch of seafood overdose in your palate. Well, they incorporated the Uni into the pasta made from scratch along with a generous serving of crab meat and basil to complement, I simply loved my main dish.
My trip to Marea was an eye-opening experience for me as it was the first time that I have eaten at a Two-star michelin restaurant. It does not differ from any fine dining restaurant but women and their materialistic pursuit of brands do give an increased perception to the value.
Marea, with its food and service in total would definitely qualify for a 2 star Michelin restaurant. Do drop by when you are in the heart of NYC. But don't you dare forget to tip! A good gauge would be about 10% the total bill as it is in Singapore.
Marea
240 Central Park South
New York, NY 10019
Telephone: 212-582-5100
Fax: 212.582.5177
http://www.marea-nyc.com/
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