La Sirena, Mario Batali’s leviathan of an eatery in the Maritime Hotel, landed with a splash worthy of the 8.5 million New Yorkers’ long wait for it.
Batali’s first new restaurant here in 10 years offers Italian cuisine for almost everyone — even for the “wellness-aware” who don’t share the chef’s famous taste for lardo and meaty sauces.
And, the scene’s up to the cuisine. A rollicking, mosaic-tiled lounge anchored by a 38-foot-long bar holds two very adult dining rooms at arms’ length. An outdoor terrace, to open in a few weeks, will swell the seat total to 300. The democratically diverse crowd ranges from young families, to snuggling couples, to Jerry Seinfeld hunkered down with two business guys, all three of them in suits and ties.
Batali and partner Joe Bastianich aren’t out to wow the world with something radically new. Rather, La Sirena reflects Batali working in a mature, relaxed key that suavely reprises the pleasures of his regional-interpretive approach.
That approach can be enjoyed at prices surprisingly reasonable for such a high-profile place. Starters from $15 to $17, pasta $19 to $25, and most mains $25 to $29 are my idea of “New York values.”
After a mixed start, executive chef Josh Laurano’s kitchen is humming on all cylinders. If you have any room left, pastry director Michael Laiskonis’s clever but accessible desserts add to the fun.
But the happiest news about La Sirena is that Molto Mario’s back at the throttle in New York after a decade of global expansion, TV work and environmental activism.
It was great to see him on the floor — though sadly he wasn’t wearing his orange Crocs — and even better to have him back in the kitchen.
88 Ninth Ave.; 212-977-6096
HEALTHY PICKS
Roasted orata: The whole fish (above), served tail-on, was juicy beneath crisp skin. Lemon, olive oil and radicchio completed the coastal fantasy.
Another piscene, grilled swordfish with olives, pine nuts and tomatoes, fairly screams “Mediterranean diet.”
Raw baby artichokes and sunchokes: Veggies shaved paper-thin are topped with a dab of flavor-packed bottarga mayonnaise.
HEARTY PICKS
Caserecce: The twisted pasta is ideally made to bear sauce. This Sicilian riff includes broccoli rabe, chili and crackling sesame seeds — a sparkler on palate and tongue.
“Old-school” beef braciola: Butterflied short rib (below) rolled with garlic, parsley and pecorino is braised to a sensuously supple turn.
