Porto Salvo

Porto Salvo opened in the summer of 2017 on East 161st Street, between Melrose and Elton Avenues, and quickly became a neighborhood favorite for lingering over a bottle. Chef Luigi Ghidetti and his partner, Mark Lu, gave it a nautical look — the name means 'safe harbor' — and a house rule that says a lot: no televisions, no Wi-Fi, talk to the people at your table. Staff from the courthouses down the street have made it a happy-hour regular.

The cooking leans toward the Italian coast rather than red sauce. Oysters, an octopus carpaccio sliced thin and laid in a circle, whole roasted branzino and caciucco, the Tuscan seafood stew, share the menu with pastas and meatballs made from Ghidetti's grandmother's recipe. The same team runs Minato, a Japanese izakaya, across the street — come back for it another night.