One of the city’s most prolific chefs is back. Following a three-year hiatus, Michael White—Italian powerhouse Marea earned two MICHELIN Stars when he was at the helm of the restaurant—returned with the opening of Santi in New York, and the restaurant is a reflection of his time away from the city.
Italian food is, of course, the focus—the James Beard Award-winning chef has long been celebrated for his Italian cooking—but this time the fine-dining restaurant is heavily influenced by his home in East Hampton, and his travels through Italy, including years he spent working in Imola and the Amalfi Coast.
A partnership with hospitality attorney Bruce Bronster, Santi (their hospitality group BBianco has a growing list of restaurants around the country) has an expansive menu of seafood dishes and pastas, but these four dishes on the current menu are non-negotiable.
Read on for four must-order dishes at Santi in New York, and make a booking on OpenTable.
For a labor-intensive shrimp preparation, try the gamberi rossi
What makes the prawns in this crudo unique are that they’re caught at extreme depths—nearly 3,000 feet—about 100 miles off the coast of Montauk. “There are only a few fishermen out in Long Island that are going out to get these,” White says. “The red shrimp are very reminiscent of the red prawns that are in the Mediterranean.”
The deep, cold waters give the shrimp their firm texture and delicate flavor and White then pairs the thinly sliced shellfish with caviar and pickled mushrooms. “I remember having gamberi rossi for the first time on the island of Ponza,” White says. “I wouldn’t have thought to put this on the menu if I hadn’t spent all of that time in Italy as a young person, working and learning how to build on flavors and simplicity.”
Plus, the dish is a nod to the fishermen near White’s home in East Hampton—it’s his way of acknowledging a long-standing tradition. “If we as chefs work a little bit harder by seeking out these fishermen and these types of opportunities to get fish like this, it’s better for the customer, and it keeps fishermen in business,” he says.
For a coastal, seafood-studded pasta, go for the orecchiette
Though orecchiette originated along Puglia’s Adriatic coastline, White’s preparation nods more to his time working on the Amalfi coast. The region’s lemons are known for their vibrant aroma and sweet-tart flavor, and White incorporates lemon oil and lemon zest into his luxurious orecchiette studded with lobster and sea urchin. “Travel is knowledge when it comes to being a chef,” White says. “I couldn’t be doing what I’m doing if I hadn’t traveled as a young person and chef.”
For an Italian seafood favorite, get the coda di rospo
While working at the two-MICHELIN-Starred Ristorante San Domenico in Imola, White grew to appreciate monkfish’s versatility. “It’s a fish that’s inherently Italian,” White says, referencing its use in coastal dishes from Liguria to Puglia. White wraps the fish in speck and serves it in a velvety white sauce with stuffed cipollini onions.
For a celebration of Sicily, order the tartaletta
This pistachio tart screams Sicily, combining the region’s most prized ingredient with creamy ricotta and fresh seasonal fruit. The restaurant makes its own pistachio cream for the tart, first toasting the nuts to deepen the flavor of the dish. The cream is then layered with ricotta—another Sicilian staple—and topped with fruit to balance the richness. “The pistachios we use are from Bronte, the pistachio capital of Italy,” White says. “Tasting a pistachio from Bronte is like tasting pistachios for the very first time.”
Alexis Benveniste is a big fan of Persian food, sushi, and finding hidden gems she can recommend to her friends. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The MICHELIN Guide, Bloomberg, and New York Magazine. You can find her on Instagram at @apbenven.
