Marcony

As many NYers know, Murray Hill has a severe shortage of desirable restaurants. When I told my friend Matt I had moved to Gramercy, he recommended that I try Marcony, an Italian restaurant just a short walk north of my apartment. So Sunday night, we skipped the Oscars and met our good family friends at Marcony (who needs to watch a four hour show when the dresses are in the newspaper the next day).

Marcony has two floors and heated out door seating. If you are on a date, try to snag a table upstairs in the area adjacent to the dining room. This romantic alcove consists of few cozy tables surrounded by wine bottle lined walls.

The service at Marcony was attentive, although the food took a long time to arrive (perhaps due to a large birthday table order placed shortly before ours). Because of the bounty placed on the table (and our desire to catch up with friends), we didn't mind the slow pace. Upon being seated, our waiter promptly filled our water glasses and delivered a basket of bread with focacia and Italian bread, a dish filled with garlic sundried tomato spread AND a platter of fried ravioli filled with cheese and topped with homemade tomato sauce (yes, one of the raviolis is missing because it was in my stomach). We were off to a good start.

Because I have been suffering killer jet lag from our honeymoon and am fighting a cold (no doubt a result of the killer jet lag), I passed on wine but I would definitely recommend perusing the list. There were over a dozen good choices from several regions in Italy. Also, due to exhaustion, we skipped dessert but I plan on going back if nothing else to order a bottle of Tuscan wine and the chocolate souffle.

I was expecting some of the dishes to wow me a bit more than it did but perhaps I made a few bad picks (The gnocchi or chitara primi might have been better choices then the octopus app, which was good, but nothing special). Also, I ordered the tagliarini pasta special with artichokes as one of our entrees, and was disappointed when the waiter set down an uninspired bowl of angel hair with asparagus. Because there are so many restaurants in NYC, I rarely return to restaurants where the night resulted in an average experience but something (besides its proximity) compels me to return (ok, it's probably the chocolate souffle I didn't get to order).

What to eat:

To start, the Tuna Tartare special was a surprisingly decadent choice. As you can see from the picture, the presentation was beautiful. The Tuna Tartare was made with a mayonnaise aioli base, giving the appetizer a creamy texture.

For an entree, The Osso Bucco Milanese Special was definitely the table winner. The Osso Bucco melted off the bone. Marcony provides a generous helping of the Milanese sauce for the accompanying buttery risotto.

Any one interested in joining me to give this place a second try? Stay tuned for the follow up,

Your foodie friend