Restaurant: Marta
Location: The Redbury Hotel, 29 E 29th St, New York, NY 10016. (212) 651-3800
Date: July 3, 2017
Cuisine: Wood-fire pizza
Rating: Good, but not as good as I hoped
New York is famous for its pizza, and so I figured to kill two birds with one stone by also trying a Danny Meyer place (recently, not counting a 13 year ago trip to Gramercy Tavern).
So Marta. Joe Tarasco is the executive chef and it describes itself as a “rustic Roman pizzerie.” Minus the 1100 year old stone walls and plus modern design and neo-Neapolitan pizza.
See what I mean about the modern decor.
But it is an attractive space.
The menu. Most of this you would never actually find in Rome.
2016 Comm. G.B. Burlotto Rosato Vino da Tavola. 88 points. Nice medium heavy rose. Somm recommended, made from Nebbiolo.
Suppli al Telefono. Tomato Risotto Croquettes, mozzarella. Sort of like Roman arancini except filled with extra cheese (a decidedly American modification).
Marta Mista. Baby head lettuce, artichokes, marinated sweet peppers, grana padano, red wine vinaigrette.
Insalata di Tonno. Tuna Conserva, buffalo Mozzarella, Baby gem lettuce, capers.
Bietole al Ferri. Ember-roasted beets, salmoriglio, ricotta salata. Beets actually seem to be more common in American salads. I haven’t seen a lot of them in Italy.
Polpettine di Pollo. Chicken Meatballs, black olives, Ricotta, sourdough.
Prosciutto. Prosciutto di Parma, Giardiniera, Grilled Sourdough.
Margherita pizza. Mozzarella, basil.
Kid’s pizza.
Patate alla Carbonara. Potatoes, guanciale, black pepper, pecorino, egg. I had high hopes for this, and the dough was excellent, but the overall taste was dominated by potato. If it had them at all it should have had about 1/4 and more pork, and maybe creme fraiche and egg or something to get more of a proper carbonara balance.
Coppa Cotta — minus the cheese. This is a dairy free version. Shoulder ham, pineapple, mozzarella (missing), and Calabrian Chili.
Pollo Ubriaco. Beer-brined half chicken, charred Caraflex cabbage, Fresno Chili, mint. Not super Italian too.
Spigola. Wild striped bass, roasted squash, cucumber, gazpacho.
The dessert menu — but we had a Broadway show to catch and didn’t stay.
Overall, Marta was pretty good, and a bit similar in some ways to Santa Monica’s Milo & Olive. It’s slightly Roman. The Arancini and Carbonara are least hint at the Eternal City. I was a little disappointed somehow, maybe it was my too-much-potato Carbonara pizza. It was solid, but I had hoped to have some amazing pizza.
Service was very nice though and the space lovely.