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Màre Mediterranean restaurant in Birmingham is under new ownership and management. Cousins Paulina Faranso and Yousif “Joe” Kakos are the new owners, who bought the restaurant from Nino Cutraro and Jay Feldman of the Feldman Automotive Group. Cutraro also owns the nearby Bella Piatti restaurant.
The seafood-centric restaurant opened in fall 2021. Under the new ownership, Màre Mediterranean is expanding its hours and updating the menu. The new owners will also continue with a seafood-forward and flavors of the Mediterranean menu focus.
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“For years, Joe and I have shared a common dream of opening and operating a restaurant in the vibrant city of Birmingham,” said Faranso, co-owner of Màre Mediterranean, in a news release. “We’re both passionate about creating a unique dining experience that reflects our love for diverse cuisine while bringing people from all walks of life together for a meal to remember.”
The restaurant at 115 Willits St. is now offering a new lunch service, opening at 11 a.m. daily. Dinner service begins at 4 p.m. Plans are to offer a “more attractively priced menu” of its popular seafood items, including branzino, lobster, orata fish, and its selection of other fresh fish delivered daily and sourced from Italy, Greece, Sicily, Portugal, and Spain and the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
Màre Mediterranean’s lunch menu starts this week. On the menu are a host of appetizers, sandwiches, entrees, and pizzas. Appetizers ($10-$15) range from calamari with Hungarian peppers and sweet chili shrimp to steak tips, arancini and hummus or baba ghanoush. Sandwiches ($13-$19) include its chophouse burger with Màre sauce, kofta burger, lamb burger, chicken caprese, chicken Parmesan, and chicken club. Salads ($9-$16) include the Màre mixed greens, Burrata Caprese, Caesar, spinach and kale, and Mediterranean bowl. Grilled chicken, shrimp or salmon can be added to salad for an additional charge. Entrees ($12-$25) include spaghetti with a tomato cream sauce, fettuccini alfredo, spaghetti and meatballs, lamb meatballs, steak and frites, chicken, salmon, and steak dishes. Also on the menu are a dozen pizza ($10-$13) options.
The new owners are also planning to revamp the nearly 7,000-square-foot restaurant and give it a new name with a new concept, which will be announced later this fall. Màre Mediterranean plans to continue the land and sea focus with high-quality and scratch-made dishes to Birmingham seven days a week. Restaurant hours are 11 a.m. -10 p.m. Monday-Thursday and Sunday, 11-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information and its new menu items, go to maremediterranean.com.
Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. Subscribe to the Free Press.