Marea

Whoever says fine dining is dead has never eaten at Marea. This elegant CPS restaurant is furnished with a high-gloss rosewood bar, chocolate leather banquettes, and roaming silver trolleys toting liqueurs. The seafood-centric menu is as exceptional as the setting. Especially when they’re mingled with pasta, like the fusilli with red wine-braised octopus, spaghetti with crab & sea urchin and the lobster ravioli. There’s an extensive crudi selection, including blue prawn tartare and a killer lobster burrata pairing. One of my favorites is the brodetto di pesce seafood soup, like slurping the sea in all its langoustine and clam glory.

Don’t Miss Dish: Lobster and burrata appetizer, blue prawn tartare, brodetto, grilled langoustines
End With: Panna cotta or affogato
Drink This: Italian wines
Price: $$$$
Occasion: Meet the parents, anniversary, birthdays, dining destination, you get the picture.