Stylish New Upper East Side Italian Restaurant Opening This Week

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Why open a coastal Italian restaurant on the Upper East Side? Well, the neighborhood has a coast of its own, according to Mark Barak.

"We're not too far from the river," joked Barak, founder and CEO of La Pecora Bianca — a group of chic Italian restaurants opening its first Upper East Side location on Thursday.

The eagerly anticipated restaurant will occupy the ground floor of Beckford House, a new luxury condo building on the corner of East 81st Street and Second Avenue. More than a year in the making, it marks the seventh location for La Pecora Bianca, following other recent openings on the Upper West Side and Midtown.

Rather than a cookie-cutter approach, La Pecora Bianca tailors each new restaurant to its neighborhood and the storefront it will occupy. Here, inspired by the Upper East Side's wealth of Italian eateries and the spacious restaurant space, Barak opted to lean "in a very coastal Italian direction," he told Patch.

"The design is meant to evoke the seaside in Italy, and in particular some of the midcentury architecture in the Amalfi Coast," he said. "And the menu reflects that."

Unique dishes at the new location will include a lobster spaghetti, squid-ink linguine with puttanesca sauce, tuna crudo, fritto misto, and other seafood dishes, Barak said.

And the whole menu will reflect La Pecora Bianca's company-wide focus on fresh pasta, with all pasta dishes made in-house.

The new spot also represents something of a homecoming for Barak, who grew up just two blocks away from the Second Avenue storefront.

This week's opening will begin with dinner service only, from 5 to 10 p.m., with La Pecora Bianca — Italian for "the white sheep" — slated to expand with brunch and lunch in the ensuing weeks.

Besides indoor tables, the sidewalk in front of the restaurant will host ample outdoor seats — featuring "really powerful heaters" that will keep diners warm during wintertime, Barak said.

Describing the restaurant to Community Board 8 last year, Barak said La Pecora Bianca had high ambitions: to "reenvision what a neighborhood restaurant can be."

"Our whole vibe is to serve our community and be a kind of third space for everyone," he said.

La Pecora Bianca opens Thursday at 1562 Second Ave. Learn more at its website.

Have an Upper East Side news tip? Contact reporter Nick Garber at nick.garber@patch.com.