Trailblazing Chef Alfred Portale, who spent 35 years gathering a passionate following at the critically-acclaimed Gotham Bar and Grill, strikes out on his own with this innovative Italian restaurant. Set in Chelsea, this is casual fine-dining at its peak, with a generous space that is minimally dressed, elegant and deeply intimate.The well-curated Italian menu is decidedly not bound by tradition; and the show-stopping house-made pastas—like cavatelli laced with a pitch-perfect arrabiata over a base of cilantro pesto—showcase Portale’s innovative style. Excellent duck, pork, roasted chicken and dry-aged steaks round out the entrée options, as do ethereal seafood plates like exquisitely cripsed cod bobbing in a lobster broth-based seafood stew.