Chef Michael Serpa Will Open a South End Tapas Bar and Café
Atlántico sails in this spring with Spanish and Portuguese seafood and drinks, plus house-made pastries, smoothies, and locally roasted coffee.
Michael Serpa at Select Oyster Bar. The chef is opening a third Boston restaurant, and a second seafood spot, with Atlántico. / Photograph by Nina Gallant for 25 Best New Restaurants in Boston 2015
Michael Serpa is off to the races: A couple weeks after debuting the Tour de France-themed bistro, Grand Tour, the chef has confirmed he’s opening a third Boston restaurant. Atlántico, stylized without any capital letters, is a tapas bar headed for the former Southern Proper space at 600 Harrison Ave. It will be the Select Oyster Bar chef’s second seafood-focused concept, as well as his first all-day café and cocktail bar.
Before he donned the restaurateur’s toque, Serpa was a longtime chef at Neptune Oyster Bar in Boston’s North End. Now, his Mediterranean oyster bar is among the city’s best—and like Select, Atlántico also ventures beyond Yankee-style seafood. The new spot has Spanish and Portuguese influence permeating the culinary and beverage programs. Alongside entrees inspired by cuisine from the Iberian Peninsula, including paella, expect a selection of tinned fish at the new spot; as well as jamón ibérico and other pintxos, per a press release today.
Spanish and Portuguese varieties will also anchor Atlántico’s wine program. Serpa himself curates the offbeat wine programs at his restaurants—the très français Grand Tour serves all American wines by the glass—and he promises “under-the-radar wines, house carafes, a prominent sherry lineup, and some of the top wines from Spain all sharing the spotlight” in the South End.
At about 3,600 square feet, the South End spot is much larger than either of Serpa’s Back Bay locations, and the bar program will grow accordingly. Atlántico will have a full bar, prominently featuring gin, sherry, and vermouths in its craft cocktails.
It will also be a weekday workspace. The main dining room and, seasonally, the patio will both be open weekday mornings for breakfast, with a full coffee program care of Ipswich-roasted Little Wolf Coffee. Think: house-made pastries, breakfast sandwiches, fresh juices, and smoothies, available both for dining in and takeout. Atlántico will also be open for weekend brunch.
Atlántico has a presence on Instagram. Follow along and stay tuned for more information as it sails toward a spring 2020 opening.
Atlántico, coming spring 2020 to 600 Harrison Ave., South End, Boston, atlanticoboston.com.
