The Best Thing We Ate Last Night: Spaghetti at Marea

Half portion of spaghetti

By James Mulcahy

A trip to Michael White's high-end Italian Marea is bound to leave your stomach full but your wallet empty, right? There's no denying that the place is pricey, but you can get out of there without paying an arm and a leg if you share the chef's pastas (which are surely the prime reason that these seats are full every evening). We dropped by with a friend and snagged two seats at the bar, determined not to spend next month's rent on this night's dinner. The restaurant was ready to help us out, as they will split any of the pastas into two separate portions upon request.

We opted for the spaghetti with sea urchin, basil and crab. There isn't much that hasn't been said about the offerings here but kids, believe us, this simple and delicious dish lives up to the hype. Split in half, the dish cost around $15 per person and the eatery did not skimp on the half portions. We easily would have been satisfied had we ordered this on our own (and we would have been very, very full). We had enough left over for the fusilli with octopus and bone marrow, which was only $16 per person when portioned out into half-sized bowls.

We were enjoying everything so much that we ordered a second round of martinis. Whoops. Well, we'll figure out a way to pay rent next month. In any case, it was worth it.