At This Well-Known Ocean Drive Hotel and Restaurant, 1220 Becomes La Marea. Yum.

By Mark Goldberg

Over the past 10 years, 1220 at The Tides has gone through a good half-dozen changes, including at least five different chefs. The newest change just happened with the purchasing of The Tides Hotel by the Kor Hotel Group. The lobby has been refurbished by trendsetting designer Kelly Wearstler to subtly reflect sand and sea. The bar has been moved to the lobby to give more seating area in the restaurant.

But it’s the restaurant itself that has undergone the most transitions, starting with its name: 1220 is now called La Marea. It’s fitting, because marea means “the tide” in Italian. More so, the expert staff is all new, energetic, knowledgeable and eager to please. Best of all is new Executive Chef Pietro Rota. The charming Neapolitan has brought an original Mediterranean menu to La Marea, with such selections as marinated anchovies, Mediterranean soup, grilled sardines and paccheri pasta.

We don’t often write about the bread, but when thick slices of chocolate bread, studded with raisins, are brought to table along with Italian olive oil, a mention is mandatory. Does it sound over the top or out of place? Just try some. No wonder Chef Rota demands the bread be removed from the table before his entrées arrive.

But let’s begin with appetizers and a fresh salad or Red & Golden Beets ($11). Simple in its execution, the dish was almost all sliced organic red and golden beets. Warmed Humbolt Fog goat cheese added a necessary creaminess, and caramelized walnuts gave it a crunch. The fresh Anchovies ($12), skinned and marinated in lemon and white wine vinegar, were served with cured lemon and thin-sliced garlic that was roasted almost to the point of becoming candied. The Diver Scallop ($12) was seasoned with a bit of sea salt and gently seared, so it remained soft and sweet. The Mediterranean Seafood Soup ($9) was more about the seafood than the soup. The bowl was filled with clams, mussels and scallops in what was more like a bouillabaisse, including the garlic crostini. The light, flavorful broth began with an olive oil base, and was enhanced with garlic, white wine, tomato sauce and a hit of clam broth.

Pasta becomes an adventure when the only word you recognize is Fettuccini (half $16/full $31). These flat noodles were blended with Maine lobster meat that had been sautéed in a lobster base. The addition of pepperoncini and a touch of cream was nice, but it was the introduction of a bit of mint to the sauce that brought forth oohs and ahhs. Garganelli (half $11/full $19) was an egg pasta that looked a little like penne, but was larger and thicker. Joining the garganelli was a sweet homemade pork sausage and rapini so the dish had a meat, a vegetable and a starch. What more could you ask for? Paccheri (half $12/full $23) was a Neapolitan egg pasta shaped into very large tubes that collapse when they are cooked, trapping inside them whatever they were sauced with. Rota added roasted pork cheeks and porcini mushrooms to his light red sauce.

Dover Sole ($42), flown in from Holland, is destined to be La Marea’s signature dish. The delicate, whole fish was pan-seared. All fish are cooked with bones in, so their flavor could not be more intense. Initial plans were to fillet all whole fish at tableside, but concern that the dishes would cool down too quickly kept that operation in the kitchen. The sole shared its plate with organic baby carrots and white beets in a lemon butter sauce. Fish can be grilled, roasted or steamed. Our roasted, whole Yellowtail Snapper ($38) was delicious — moist and light and presented with our choice of salts: Hawaiian, red and sea salt. Ordering the fillet of Mahi-Mahi en Papillote ($30), wrapped in paper with crushed tomatoes and a little olive oil, was equivalent to steaming. The prime cut Filet Mignon ($38) was tender and juicy enough that Rota saw fit not to complicate it with any sauce or jus, just a little olive oil and sea salt. The sautéed shiitake and oyster mushrooms offered a nice crunch counterpoint to the soft meat.

Sides ($8 each) ran from mini fried artichokes in a lemon aioli to organic brown rice with pistachios to an unbelievable soft polenta with creamy mascarpone and parmesan.

Desserts ($10 each) included a chocolate espresso cake — more like a soufflé — with espresso ice cream and a tarte tatin that replaced the regular sliced apples with slices of red plums.

La Marea is “soft opening” until September, so it can iron out any kinks. Actually there are none. It is as close to perfection as any restaurant can hope to be.

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