All'onda

Venice is the jumping off point for the menu at All'onda, but it's really more about executive chef Chris Jaeckle's gut instincts for combining global-trade-route ingredients. Case in point—crostini spread with ricotta and draped with a caramelised layer of butternut squash, hints of ginger and saba (concentrated grape-must syrup) making it pop. It's a primi that could almost be a dolci, with an underlying sweetness and the glossy splendour of a tarte Tatin. The Adriatic premise behind this modern, bi-level spot means seafood is a focus. Japanese ingredients enter the picture in brilliantly subtle ways, such as bucatini with smoked uni and spicy breadcrumbs and polenta with miso-cured egg yolk and wild mushrooms. Jaeckle has both Italian and Japanese restaurants on his CV (Ai Fiori and Morimoto), and Chris Cannon, who assembled the Northern Italian wine list, used to head Marea and Osteria Morini. Jeffrey Chodorow, the financial backer of dozens of restaurants across the country, including China Grill, can consider this Greenwich Village jewel as one of his crowning glories.