Dining in the D: Mare Mediterranean

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DINING IN THE D

MARE MEDITERRANEAN FACEBOOK

The crustaceans and line-caught fish flown daily to Mare Mediterranean in Birmingham are so fresh that some of the catches “come in with the fishhook still in their mouth,” said Jay Feldman. He is partners with his longtime friend, Nino Cutraro, and wife, Liz Cutraro, in the distinctive Greek seafood restaurant with Italian, Spanish and Portuguese influences.

The Cutraros also operate Bella Piatta, an Old World-style Italian eatery in Birmingham. Feldman is primarily occupied as chairman/CEO of the local Feldman Automotive Group and Ohio-based Mark Wahlberg Automotive Group. The Feldman family belongs to Temple Shir Shalom in West Bloomfield.

“Having the restaurant has been a lot of fun so far,” Feldman said, “but maybe more for me because Nino is the one toeing the line every day.”

When he and Cutraro dined at a Miami restaurant known as Milos, they were blown away by its Mediterranean food and ambiance. Agreeing that “there was nothing like it here,” Feldman said they enticed Milos manager Vladimiro Speranza to join their new venture.

Open since Nov. 9, construction of the Mare (MAH-ray, or sea, in Latin) Mediterranean restaurant started in mid-July 2021. The 6,800-square-foot space replaces the shuttered Cameron’s Steakhouse.

Offering seating for 199 in three dining rooms, a lounge and a bar, Mare Mediterranean is a comfortably contemporary restaurant such as found in Los Angeles, Manhattan or Miami. Jeff Fontana’s fresh, monochromatic decor makes use of quality materials. Commanding attention at check-in is Nino Cutraro’s own creation: projected black-and-white footage of his native Sicily and water flowing down three vertical screen panels.

Cutraro estimates 90% of guests prefer selecting their own fish from the Fish Market area, in front of the glass-enclosed open kitchen. I noticed labels for Golden Emperor, Wild Dover Sole, Dorado and Pink Corgi. The Crudo (Raw) Bar offers seafood

dishes, like Branzino Ceviche.

I had a light repast accompanied by delicious, house-made focaccia and ciabatta bread and fine olive oil. Mare Tower was stacked razor-thin and lightly battered slices of eggplant and zucchini, with Kasseri cheese and tzatziki sauce, best eaten warm. I dived first, unaware, into a delightful, finely diced Greek salad with fresh oregano. The best part was feta cheese cut into large triangles.

Chef Sean Force, formerly with Ocean Prime in Troy, offers a Risotto Primavera that can be made vegan. For meat eaters, he’s got grilled Colorado lamb chops and 30-day-aged Wagyu filet mignon and New York strip steak.

Returning to the Fish Market, the treatment called Aqua Pazza bakes fish in white wine. For an extra $10, Under Salt treatment will make fish with scales moister. Salt will not soak in as the fish is baked, 15 minutes per pound. I enjoyed watching dining room server Katya cut away the hard salt layer covering a striped bass, roll off the skin and debone the fish. She drizzled olive oil and lemon, then added capers, over pieces on a communal platter.

Mare Mediterranean

Esther Allweiss Ingber

Contributing Writer

MARE MEDITERRANEAN

115 Willits Birmingham (248) 940-5525 Maremediterranean.com Dinner-only $$$½ out of $$$$$