Jody Adams to open Mediterranean-inspired Porto restaurant in Back Bay
The seafood eatery will debut in June.
This summer, you won’t have to fly all the way to the Mediterranean for classic seafood on a bed of olives and herbs. Just head to Back Bay’s Porto, a new venture by Chef Jody Adams, Eric Papachristos, and Sean Griffing, the team behind the Greenway’s award-winning restaurant Trade.
Adams recently announced that she’s leaving her flagship Italian restaurant, Rialto, in June and previously opened a fast-casual Greek restaurant in Fenway called Salonki. Now she’s heading up Porto—named after the shared Italian and Portuguese word for “port”—which will offer a modern Mediterranean take on both raw and cooked seafood.
“People tend to think of Mediterranean food as lots of vegetables and olive oil. What they forget is that thousands of years before the first tomato arrived in Italy, local people were feasting on shellfish, octopus, sea urchins and branzino,” Adams said in a press release. “Porto gives us the chance to shift the focus a bit—we love all those vegetables and olive oil too!—but we want to emphasize a less-well known side of Mediterranean fare that’s just as delicious and healthy.”
Adams, a James Beard Award-winning chef, will create Porto’s menu in collaboration with Chef de Cuisine Jon Sanchez. It will include a changing selection of east and west coast oysters, whole fish roasted with herbs and olives, fried smelts with lemon aioli, and a Mediterranean twist on the New England lobster roll.
Porto will also offer pastas, seasonal vegetables, steak, grilled Cornish Game Hen, and mussels. Every menu item will honor the restaurant’s tagline, “Established in Massachusetts. Inspired by the Mediterranean,” according to the release.
Elissa Rae, another Trade veteran, will serve as Porto’s general manager and oversee the beverage program, which will include cocktails, local craft beers, and a wine list that focuses on Mediterranean options with an emphasis on rosé and whites.
It won’t just be the food and drinks that have a Mediterranean flare; the decor and service will also take cues from the coast.
Porto will be on Ring Road next to Saks Fifth Avenue and will open daily for lunch and dinner, with brunch on Saturdays and Sundays.
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