Wanting to see what all the ink was about, I arranged to meet a friend for a drink at Marta, the newest in Danny Meyer’s growing empire. The restaurant is located in the lobby of the Martha Washington Hotel with Nick Anderer, his chef from Maialino, his Roman-style trattoria, at the helm.
Marta is also Roman-style, but this time a pizza place — with a wood-fired grill and wood-burning oven — strategically located in the trendy flatiron restaurant district. If you missed it, Zagat recently named Marta as one of New York’s hottest pizza joints.
I mention that Marta is located in the lobby of the hotel, as I was quite chilled both times I visited that first night. Maybe with enough complaints, they’ll figure our a way to tame the breeze when a guest holds open the front door! At least they trained Marta’s staff to be amazingly gracious and accommodating.
I returned the same evening a couple hours later with some other friends to sample the food. Don’t miss the charred octopus ($15) with the wonderful flavor of being cooked over wood, accompanied by sunchokes and citrus all over castelfranco radicchio.
We tried two exceptionally thin and crispy crusted (aka cracker-like) pizzas. I’d recommend the Salsiccia ($16) a red sauce topped crust, with mozzarella, sausage and mushrooms over the Patate alla Carbonara ($17) a white pizza (bianche), with sliced potatoes, cured Italian guanciale, percorino and an egg, too runny for me.
Although you’re told that to secure a table at this funky fun, you should call 28 days ahead… you probably can get in if you just show up and are prepared to wait. They also serve in the breezy bar area — you’ll just need to keep your coat on!
– bonnie
Marta
in the Martha Washington Hotel, Gramercy/Flatiron
29 E 29th St,
New York, NY 10016
(212) 651-3800
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