Manhattans power scene is back in full force at this luxe new Italian restaurant from Michael White: Its Marea 2.0

Midtown has its pre-pandemic swagger back — and People’s Exhibit No.1 is Santi (11 E.

53d St.), the buzzing new modern-Italian restaurant from celebrated chef Michael White.Its nexus of corporate power, great pasta and fun people-watching make it the area’s hottest scene since White’s Marea opened in prehistoric 2009.After splitting with the Altamarea group in 2021 due to disagreements over the company’s direction, White has spent most of his time launching new venues in Florida.

(A consulting gig at the Lambs Club on West 44th Street lasted only a few months in 2022.) Santi, launched by his BBianco Hospitality Group with business partner Bruce Bronster, marks his triumphant, full-scale Big Apple return.Marea’s still going strong and Midtown has other established, excellent Italian restaurants such as Il Gattopardo, Cellini and Fresco by Scotto.But others faded and the scene needed new blood.

Santi delivers it for everyone — from shoppers and museum-goers to a Who’s Who of Midtown glitterati.Once home to White’s aughts-era hit Alto, the venue has overnight became a haunt where the city’s prime movers wheel-and-deal over homemade gnocchi and tagliatelle, and cocktails such as the Fifty-Fifty, which features Taggiasca gin, made with prized Ligurian olives.Santi’s pleasures unspool through several main areas designed by Michaelis Boyd, gorgeously lit by L’Observatoire International and festooned with luminous portraits from Bronster’s private collection.Each section draws a different crowd.

The front dining room, a few steps down from a horseshoe-shaped bar for the after-work, sip-and-flirt set, draws movers and shakers to its semicircular booths and banquettes.It’s become a canteen for bankers at market-moving investment firm Jefferies Group and its CEO Rich Handler, who work upstairs.On any given afternoon or evening, you might spot Henry Kravis, Barry Diller or real estate mogul Bill Rudin, who’s planning a new skyscraper a...