OP EAT: MARIA PIA

Zohaib Chida

HS Junior Zohaib Chida is a patron of the culinary arts and provides insight on New York City dining.

I have always felt that one of the greatest luxuries in life is good food. A really good meal, with high-quality, fresh ingredients and perfectly-balanced spices is arguably one of the best experiences a person can have. Unfortunately, most of the best restaurants in New York City are extremely expensive. Luckily, there are number of moderately-priced places that can still provide you with a very good, if not the best possible, meal.

If I were to recommend one moderately-priced restaurant to go to in New York, it would probably be Maria Pia, an Italian restaurant located on West 51st Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. It ranges anywhere from $15 per head (if you order from the lunch prix-fixe menu) to $30 each, if you order three courses off the normal menu at dinner. That may not be ridiculously cheap, but for the food that you are getting, it is really quite a good deal.

I strongly suggest that you don’t go straight to the main course, because the appetizers are well worth having. In particular, I enjoy eating the host of carpaccios that are offered. A carpaccio is a thin, rare piece of meat or fish that is lightly seasoned (the closest thing to this is sushi). I usually order the tuna carpaccio, but the beef and salmon ones are good, too. For those who would rather not eat something that is barely cooked, there are more conventional dishes such as calamari and buffalo mozzarella, each made with a distinctly Italian flavor.

In Italian cuisine, there is traditionally not one main course, but two: pasta and either meat or fish. However, it’s quite filling to have that much food, so if you are only going to have one main course, your best bet will probably be the pasta. Maria Pia offers two categories of pasta, dried and fresh. The difference has to do with the way they are cooked and with their ingredients, but both are delicious. Of the dried pastas, the best are the Spaghetti all ‘Arrabbiata (spaghetti with a spicy tomato sauce), the Penne alla Puttanseca (penne with olives, capers, tomato sauce, and anchovies), and the Spaghetti alle Vongole (spaghetti with fresh clams, garlic and white wine). These are all fairly common dishes, but are made especially well at Maria Pia because the pasta is cooked perfectly, the spices are present but not excessive, and the ingredients are very fresh (which is especially important with the clams).

Of the fresh pastas, my favorite is the lobster ravioli. It combines ravioli with a tomato sauce that contains pieces of fresh, juicy lobster.If you like seafood in your pasta, this is probably the dish to have.

For dessert, it’s really hard to pass up on the tiramisu. This Italian coffee cake is served at many restaurants, but Maria Pia makes one of the best. The rich cream and the moderate but not too strong flavor of coffee have prevented me from having any other dessert here, because the tiramisu is just too delicious. It’s the perfect cap to an already excellent meal.

Sure, Maria Pia may not be the absolute best restaurant in the city, but its moderate prices, excellent food, friendly service, and great location right by the theater district make it a place well worth visiting. After all, a good meal is a great experience, and why not take advantage of every opportunity you can?