Marcus Samuelson’s Hav & Mar Seafood Restaurant, Chelsea, NYC

I started writing this post while nibbling Hav and Mar’s teff biscuit and blue cornbread spread from last night’s dinner. I had warmed and spread it with the honey butter our incredible server, Don, gave us to pack with our leftover bread. Be sure to get the addictive bread basket, but do not finish it, or you won’t have room for the food to come.

But I’m getting way ahead of myself.

My friends who live in Chelsea have been raving about Marcus Samuelson’s newest place, Hav & Mar, since it opened. Pete Wells (New York Times) already gave it two stars. Hav in Swedish means sea; Mar is Ethiopian for honey; both his heritages as Marcus was born in Ethiopia and raised in Sweden.

I had to try it.

After discussing the menu with Don, I ordered their Honey Barrel, a liqueur-forward drink as I like, with bourbon, rye, Aperol, honey peychaud’s bitters and orange and lemon oils ($20). Sadly, the flavor was too sweet, not as I expected. I mentioned that to Don, who said the drink appeared darker than it should be. He returned it to the bartender, who realized he had incorrectly mismade that batch. He re-did the batch.

Before I received the newly prepared drink, Don served our warm bread basket filled with four teff biscuits, blue cornbread and an injera crisp, with shiro (ground dried chickpeas and various spices) hummus, tomato chutney and honey butter ($19). Injeras is typically a sour fermented teff flatbread with a slightly spongy texture. Theirs was a crisp, flavorful strip.

We also received the lobster tacos ($25 for two), having requested a third (+$10) one so we could each try the housemade blue corn tortilla, awaze and herb salad. Awaze is a traditional Ethiopian sauce from a spicy-hot blend of peppers and fragrant spices.

My new drink arrived as our wine did, the 2021 Oddero, Langhe Nebbiolo, Piedmont, IT ($76), a Barolo that worked nicely with the spiced food.

We shared three remarkable dishes. We share the Havatini ($33), tube pasta (bucatini) with crab, shrimp and uni butter; the banana leaf snapper topped with a dill salsa verde, crispy coconut rice and crispy Brussels sprouts ($34) and the Addis York Ethiopian doro wot. We requested the egg from the latter on the side, as one of my dining partners can’t eat eggs. I recommend them all with my favorite, the Doro Wot ($32), a crisp drumstick with the injera-wrapped chicken stewed with Ethiopian herbs and spices.

We did indulge and shared two desserts, the yuzu pomegranate tart ($14) and the chocolate cake with white “chocolate,” dark chocolate and caramel filling ($16).

The noise level in this 125-seat restaurant with its open kitchen was perfect for conversation!