Massara

"This two-story Flatiron restaurant is from the pasta obsessives at Rezdôra, and aside from the few that are imported from the Amalfi-adjacent town of Gragnano, Massara’s pastas are all housemade. With a focus on coastal and Southern Italian cuisines, rotating offerings might include bicolor mezzalune, cavatelli-like corteccia, and firm tubes of candele tossed with an ultra-concentrated beef shank ragu. If it’s warm out, get the chilled spaghetti with uni and raw red prawn." - willa moore, bryan kim, neha talreja, carlo mantuano

"Maybe you’ve heard of Rezdôra, the Flatiron spot that’s been serving little portions of fussy pasta to a packed house since 2019. We’re fans, but the sequel is so much better. Massara is just down the street in a bi-level space that makes us feel like we're intruding on someone’s Neapolitan villa. The menu is inspired by Campania, and, once again, there’s a rotating menu of obsessively engineered pastas, like mezzelune stuffed with peas, caciocavallo, and diced soppressata. But they also have great wine, puffy pizzettes, and pistachio gelato that’s 50% chocolate chip." - bryan kim, neha talreja, willa moore, molly fitzpatrick, tiffany yannetta

"This Italian restaurant from chef Stefano Secchi and his partner, David Switzer, is a larger offshoot of their nearby restaurant Rezdôra. The Flatiron restaurant also spotlights pastas, but in this case, the menu is centered on the food of Southern Italy, specifically, Campania. Order the cheesemakers raviolini stuffed with burrata, a pizzette, the polpo, and the capesante." - Nadia Chaudhury, Eater Staff

"When Massara’s host hits you with a “Ciao,” it’s fair to wonder if that’s the extent of their Italian. Either way, the greeting feels appropriate. It sets the stage for an immersive evening of textbook Neapolitan pies, bicolor mezzelune, and perspiring glasses of aglianico rosé produced in the backyard of an extinct volcano. An elaborate tribute to the Southern Italian region of Campania, this Flatiron restaurant is from the team behind Rezdôra, a little spot up the street with a deep fixation on the pastas of Emilia-Romagna. We're fans, but the narrow focus holds that place back. photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte Here, pastas are only part of the equation. This two-story restaurant also offers simply charred langoustines, travertine flagstone floors, and frosty metal saucers stuffed with gelato. The snug ground floor is as cool as a wine cellar, and the sunlit upper level, with its olive green walls and cavernous skylight, is perfect for a date night with Ischian wine. The attention to detail is obsessive, and it extends to everything coming out of the kitchen. Massara’s pastas are petite, but action packed. Even if you're solo at one of the bars, you should still aim to take down two. Start with the cold spaghetti crowned with uni and raw red prawn, then go for the candele with a beef-shank ragu that clings to your taste buds. If the mezzelune is available, order that as well, if only to study the engineering: half of each pouch is filled with soppressata, and the other contains a blend of peas and caciocavallo that smooths out the flavor of the punchy cured meat. photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte Don’t save room for mains. They’re perfectly fine, but a whole branzino isn't the best way to experience this place. Try a pizzette instead. The snack-sized pie won’t interfere with your pasta agenda, and it’ll arrive perfectly charred and exceedingly puffy. If you want to know the secret, it may have something to do with the 35-year-old starter, or the wood-fired oven hauled in from Naples. Here, nothing is overlooked, and it all adds up. Food Rundown photo credit: Kate Previte Polpo Massara’s octopus is soft as fresh mozzarella, with a lingering smoky flavor. Of the few antipasti, it’s our top pick. photo credit: Kate Previte Stagione The pizzettes aren’t necessarily the headliners here, but don’t ignore them. Go for the stagione, with sweet asparagus and funky black truffle that fit together like the two sides of a heart-shaped locket. photo credit: Kate Previte Mezzelune We've heard these little pouches of pea and soppressata might be leaving the menu. If that happens, don't reach out. We'll need some alone time. photo credit: Kate Previte Candele As they proved at Rezdôra, these people know how to make a ragu. This one’s Genovese, and its incredibly concentrated, with lots of shredded beef and slow-cooked onion flavor. If you want something meatier, it’s the right choice. photo credit: Kate Previte If Pasta Fredda Was Eaten In Amalfi It’s tough to say what the Amalfi Coast tastes like. But this must be it. Thick, cold, and coated in a light tomato sauce, the little nest of spaghetti comes topped with uni and raw red prawn. Pasta Mista Classica One great thing about Massara: they serve pastas you won’t find elsewhere. This one contains a grab bag of shapes like lumachine, fusilli, and casarecce, along with little cubes of potato. Invented in Campania as an odds-and-ends dish to make use of scraps, it’s now an unlikely highlight of this restaurant's menu. photo credit: Alex Staniloff Cheesemakers Raviolini You may have seen pictures of these undersized ravioli. The candy-sweet pomodoro is fun for a bit, but this is far from the most exciting dish here. Langostino Alla Brace If you have an extra $60 to spend on a single forearm-sized crustacean, absolutely do it. The langoustine is simply grilled, and it pairs exceptionally with Massara's myrtle berry gin sour, inspired by Sardinia. photo credit: Kate Previte Gelato Cap things off with some gelato that's thick enough to use an industrial adhesive. The pistachio flavor tastes like the pure, true essence of the nut, with a heap of chocolate chips in it." - Bryan Kim

"This Southern Italian restaurant in the Flatiron District is helmed by Chef Stefano Secchi of Rezdôra. Here, the menu focuses on the regional cuisine of Campania and is designed with a shared plates mindset. The cooking is strong and clever. Kick off the meal with grilled ciabatta or tender pulpo before settling on pasta, the star of the show. Most is made in-house and the dishes are sized for sharing, so order several to sample their handiwork. Standouts include the whimsically named "If pasta fredda was eaten in Amalfi," a thicker noodle served cold and coated in a puréed tomato-based sauce and topped with raw red shrimp and lobes of uni. Cheesemakers raviolini, with six ravioli filled with burrata imported from Campania, is proof positive of this team's skill for pasta." - Michelin Inspector