Coast Of Italy

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Growing up alongside the coasts of Venice, executive chef Ferdinando “Fredi” Plaku has always understood the freshness you could find only in Italian seafood. Now he’s teaming up with acclaimed restaurateur Nino Rata to bring those coastal flavors to Keller’s newest fine dining establishment, Acquario Italian Seafood.

Opening last month along Davis Boulevard, Acquario Italian Seafood marries expertly crafted Italian cuisine with the flair of authentic, locally sourced Texas ingredients. With over 30 years of operating restaurants in both Texas and New York, Acquario is chef Fredi and Nino’s second collaboration after previously opening La Botte Ristorante together in the affluent Manhattan suburb of Westchester in 2020.

“It was a difficult year, but we managed to survive because of chef Fredi’s culinary expertise,” Nino says. “They always say ‘If you can make it in Westchester, you can make it anywhere,’ and chef Fredi and I have certainly found that to be true.”

The first thing guests will notice about Acquario is its oceanic design. With colors of teal, dark turquoise, oak wood and black throughout, stepping through Acquario feels like you're floating along the Adriatic Sea. The bar’s mosaic tile backsplash invokes the sandy beaches of Sicily, while the accompanying wine rack shows off the restaurant’s robust collection of Italian red, white and rosé bottles. Its curated list of signature cocktails is equally as extravagant, with bestselling beverages including the Mediterranean Kiss made with Figenza fig vodka and the Lampedusa Heat mixed with Diplomatico rum and passion fruit puree.

When you’re ready to dive into its culinary offerings, Acquario’s appetizers keep up the coastal influence with a variety of seafood selections. The grilled calamari and octopus delivers a soft, sweet and buttery flavor, while the clams oreganata are stuffed with bread crumbs, Italian herbs, parmigiano reggiano and a zesty lemon sauce. Between Mediterranean sea bass, Atlantic amberjack, black tea-crusted salmon and the Hawaiian big eye tuna, the raw crudo options provide an authentic and uncompromising bite from the surf. The outpost’s turf selections are just as sumptuous with ribeyes, New York Strips and short ribs directly sourced from Texas hill country stock found at nearby 44 Farms in Cameron.

But Acquario’s specialty is the pasta, which is made from scratch in-house with low-gluten semolina flour. Whether it is caserecce, large rigatoni, straw-shaped bucatini, tagliolini and squid ink linguini, chef Fredi is always experimenting with different pasta shapes and bases. One of his most popular specialties is a chocolate pappardelle pasta topped with a Long Island duck ragu that’s as hearty as it is savory.

“It’s not just the taste that stands out,” Nino says. “You can see the freshness in the ingredients – in the delicate and intentional way that it’s plated and presented. We wanted it to be something unique and different from anywhere else. We want people to say this is the best meal of their lives.”

That quality extends to the dessert menu as well, which features six sweet cocktails that are served with Tito’s vodka, Jameson, chocolate liquor, prosecco and more. Chef Fredi’s infamous tiramisu soaks ladyfingers in espresso before topping it with a thick blended layer featuring mascarpone cheese, while the Creme Catalana bakes custard over a crunchy caramelized crust. But no other dessert exemplifies the restaurant’s heritage more than the Panna Cotta Tri-Colore, which combines vanilla and mint gelatin with a layer of strawberry preserves to resemble the colors on the Italian flag.

“We treat our customers like family,” chef Fredi says. “We want them to understand that we’re bringing them more than just food — we’re bringing them a culinary experience unlike anything they’ve ever tried before.”