Marea Beverly Hills — Restaurant in Beverly Hills

When we heard that the famed Marea of NYC had landed in Beverly Hills, we knew exactly where we were headed to for New Years Eve dinner.

What we love about the LA food scene is that it is bustling with casual eateries that reflect all sorts of global cuisines. But in my mind, it's always been limited in restaurants that can satiate the desire for something a bit more unique and memorable for special occasions, and this limitation is the most apparent in French and Italian offerings. It's true that food taste is subjective, but I'd need many fingers to count the number of times I've been disappointed by the service, wine handling, and overall atmosphere. Indeed, it's rare to find a venue within city limits that attains this trifecta.

Our dinner at Marea was nothing short of miraculous in that it delivered this aspirational experience that I haven't felt in a long time. I ordered the Bruschetta, Astice, Fusilli, Marubini, Bistecca, whole Scampi, then topped it off with tiramisu. The Astice harmonized beautifully with the champagne, while the Fusilli proved its standing as the restaurant's piece de resistance as soon as the first bite. The Bistecca was one of the best steaks in recent memory, while the tiramisu was delectable, with a unique texture. It had such character for what one might think as a simple dessert. We brought the wine for the night - Bollinger R.D. 2002 - and paired well with the ordered glasses of Oddero's Barolo from the Piedmont region. The Bollinger fell a bit flat despite its great bottle condition, but we're eager to try again to capture its true essence. The Barolo was an excellent partner to the steak, and with its reasonable pricing, we're planning to buy a few bottles for ourselves at home.

As for Marea... let's just say it felt like an oasis in the middle of the desert and a sublime way to end the year. We can't...

There’s nothing more delightful than having our favorite Italian restaurant in NYC open a spot in Beverly Hills! Just a little over two weeks old, the restaurant dining room was already bustling at 5:15 p.m. on a Saturday. I’m guessing a weekend dinner reservation might be hard to come by when more and more people discover this gem. Thankfully, I just saw (on their website) that they’re now open for lunch daily.

On to the food.

As much as we love their superb pasta dishes, such as the Casarecce (full of lump crab meat, with a spicy kick from the calabrian chile), the dishes you should definitely try are the starters and appetizers. The Ricci, in particular, presents such a wonderful combination of flavors, especially when the thin, translucent film of lardo starts to melt when you bite into the sea urchin. The Polipo is also a must-try, with superbly tender octopus paired with morsels of potato that were smoked before being deep-fried. And if you think after all this, you don’t have room for dessert, reach deep and find that dessert stomach, because there is something you won’t want to miss — the Tiramisu. Beautifully molded like a giant espresso bean, It is almost like ice cream inside a chocolate shell. Really smooth and delicate, without the cake-like texture of the lady fingers.

And finally, I just have to say something about the service. It was impeccable. The staff were very professional yet approachable. Our server enjoyed talking about the food as much as we enjoyed eating it! Plus, the main dining area (where we were seated) was just lovely: think warm lighting in an open, convivial space. Try to snag booth seating if you can, so you can...

I rarely even order Crudo anymore. At most restaurants, it’s barely mediocre; An embarrassment of poorly sliced fish that is not the highest quality smothered with various flavors of glorified salad dressing but priced like it is exceedingly precious bit of sashimi delivered to the restaurant by courier in a jeweled box.  These restaurants are mostly sad copycats off the leader of the pack, Marea in New York City.  Marea is one of my all-time favorite restaurants, and I have been quite excited to see that they were opening in Beverly Hills. I jumped on reservations the second they were released for soft opening and we went last night. I am delighted and happy to report that even with soft opening jitters, the food was just as fabulous as it was in New York City. While they have some yummy looking entrées our preference is to focus on their small plates of many tastes, especially the Crudo, and other variations of small fish bites.  We also love their pasta as it is creative and perfectly executed. Someday, now that they are local, perhaps I’ll try the entrées, but we did not do so last night. Highlights included pretty much everything we ordered . In some cases, we ordered multiple plates cause they were so good. If I’m going to nitpick, their desserts were too sweet, and I didn’t care for them . But other than that, so worth it, highly recommended.  They lost their Michelin stars in New York due to some Covid related issues. I do hope that they get it in Beverly Hills as it would be quite deserved. $75 corkage.#the...