I once asked a noted Italian restaurateur why a city like New York couldn’t have at least one restaurant where the seafood is every bit as good as I’d find in Italy. His answer was distressing: “If I were to bring in the best quality seafood from Italy, I’d have to charge so much money no one could afford it, not even in New York.”
Sadly, most Italian restaurateurs in the city use that excuse to serve inferior seafood like farm-raised branzino and salmon, frozen langoustines and scallops long out of their shells. So, when Michael White opened Marea at Columbus Circle ten years ago, it soon became patently obvious that he could charge an appropriate price for the highest quality seafood and people would pack the place.
