Anthony Scotto opens Italian restaurant One10 in Melville

It’s barely a week into the new year, but 2020 may see no grander, more buzz-worthy opening than that of One10, the new Anthony Scotto restaurant that opened Monday night in Melville.

This most recent venture from the prolific restaurateur is not quite as big as 2017’s Mediterranean colossus One North in Jericho but, at 14,000 square feet, it dwarfs his three Long Island steakhouses: Insignia (2011), Rare650 (2009) and Blackstone (2005).

Opening night saw a steady stream of customers, many of them Scotto regulars, who were welcomed and looked after by a small army of servers, managers, runners, bartenders — and, in the open kitchen, more than 20 cooks under the command of executive chef Ron Gelish.

“Where to sit” was the first choice confronted by newcomers. The vast dining room was taking a while to fill up and most patrons gravitated toward the undulating bar, half of which extends into a glassed-in atrium that will, in better weather, be open to the elements. The M Bar was also a popular destination. Named after its signature specialty, mozzarella, it also dispenses imported buffalo mozzarella, burrata (regular and truffled), vegetable accompaniments, cured meats, aged cheese and raw oysters.

Amazingly, One10 is the first Italian concept Scotto has launched since Scotto’s Pizzeria and Restaurant debuted in Port Washington in 1967, a scant six years after his family emigrated from Monte di Procida, a fishing village near Naples. The menu certainly presents a much more modern vision of Italian cuisine, with such starters truffled burrata with grilled artichokes, pancetta-wrapped shrimp with Tuscan bean salad; pastas such as spaghetti alla chitarra cacio e pepe and fresh pappardelle with a Bolognese of pork, veal and Wagyu beef; mains such as grilled swordfish the preserved lemon and grilled asparagus, long-bone short ribs with horseradish mashed potatoes and lemon roast chicken with Brussels sprout hash.

The menu frequently veers away from Italy with a selection of East and West Coast oysters, acorn-fed jamon Iberico Spanish ham, avocado hummus, shishito peppers, seared tuna salad and a burger made with Pat LaFrieda beef.

Prices, for a Scotto restaurant, are gentle: no starter or salad is more than $20; most pastas are in the low-to-mid $20s; among mains, only the veal ossobuco tops $40.

The wine list, the work of sommelier Juliette Murphy, features more than 600 wines, with dozens by the glass.

One10, 569 Broadhollow Rd., Melville, 631-694-3333, one10restaurant.com