F: Is for here fishy, fishy

After two nights of casual friends-and-family service, Chris Cannon and Michael White’s big bet on Central Park South, Marea, opened to the public for dinner last night. For the next week, the restaurant is in a preview mode, offering nearly three quarters of the menu, all at a 20 percent discount. The extensive menu is geared toward seafood lovers: A crudo bar offers a variety of raw seafood, such as tuna with oyster cream and artichokes; pastas include fusilli with octopus and bone marrow;(the raw bar isn’t quite ready yet, thanks to a construction mishap) and there’s a list of fish and shellfish that can be cooked in the method of the diner’s choosing, then paired with a number of different sauces, including bagna caoda and a Piedmontese dip made from anchovies. 56 covers are the allotted covers but will slowly increase over successive nights. “It’s like taking a new car out on the road for the first time,” says the boss, “you don’t floor it right away.” If you want to score a table during discount week, you can try your luck calling the reservation line (212-582-5100); table availability will increase incrementally as the week goes on. This restaurant is sure to please and that is a F.A.C.T.