"Michael Serpa, the longtime executive chef at the North End’s always-packed, no-reservations Neptune Oyster Bar opened his very own, seafood mecca in the Back Bay in 2015. That means you can now make a reservation to eat his top-shelf European-inflected dishes—salmon crudo, Spanish octopus, sautéed petit clams, whole roasted sea bream—without waiting outside in line for an hour plus. While Serpa emphasizes local fish, especially for seasonal specials, he sources some ingredients, like that octopus, from afar, when the quality is better. The restaurant has about 50 seats in its exposed brick and raw wood spaces, 16 of them at the pewter-topped bar, which might well be the best spot from which to sample the list Serpa has assembled of seafood-appropriate wines both old world and new. He puts a particular focus on Chablis, his favorite." - Elizabeth Wellington, Andrew Sessa
