From Dock to Table: The Story Behind Battello's Seafood-Forward Italian Menu

Every restaurant menu tells you something about the kitchen behind it, and Battello's menu tells a fairly specific story: contemporary Italian cooking built with a seafood-first mindset, shaped by a chef who trained in some of the most demanding kitchens in Europe before bringing that discipline back to the Hudson waterfront.

A Chef Trained Far Beyond New Jersey

Chef and Partner Ryan DePersio's path to Battello runs through Bouley Bakery and Judson Grill in New York, the one-Michelin-star La Brasserie in Paris, and the two-Michelin-star Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, with a stretch working under Jean-Georges Vongerichten at Vong and the four-star Jean-Georges along the way. That kind of training shapes a particular sensibility: technique-driven, seasonally aware, and unwilling to let a dish coast on a familiar name alone. Battello's menu, developed alongside Chef de Cuisine Giancarlo Junyent, reflects that background directly.

Why Seafood Leads the Menu

Battello sits on the Hudson River, and the menu leans into that setting rather than treating it as incidental. The Raw Bar anchors the seafood identity, with a Seafood Tower built around oysters, clams, shrimp, crab, tuna tartare, and lobster, alongside a Shrimp Cocktail finished with old bay seasoning and a calabrian chili cocktail sauce. It's a statement early in the menu: this is a kitchen that wants to be judged on its seafood first.

That focus continues into the entrees. The Day Boat Sea Scallops, served with tri-color cauliflower, beluga lentils, salsify puree, and a pignoli and raisin gremolata, are named for exactly what they are: scallops brought in on day boats rather than larger vessels that stay out for extended trips, a distinction that matters for freshness and is part of why the dish reads as simply prepared rather than over-engineered. The Pistachio and Oregano Crusted Halibut, finished with crab, zucchini orzotto, fennel, and saffron jus, pairs a delicate fish with a crust and sauce built to support it rather than overwhelm it.

Where Italian Technique Meets the Water

The clearest expression of Battello's Italian-seafood identity is the pasta program. The Mafalde con Vongole brings manila clams, lemon, calabrian chili, and garlic crumbs together in a classic seafood pasta preparation, while the Cavatelli Verde takes a less traditional route, pairing jonah crab with tomato confit, meyer lemon, and braised artichokes. Both dishes are handmade in-house, which is where a lot of the kitchen's Italian technique actually shows up: in the pasta itself, not just in the sauce poured over it.

For guests who want something further from the water, dishes like the Ricotta Gnocchi with sweet sausage bolognese and pecorino romano, or the Creste di Gallo Verde with braised short rib ragu, keep the same handmade pasta program grounded in more traditional Italian flavors, giving the menu real range beyond its seafood identity.

A Menu Built to Change With the Season

Chef DePersio has described his approach as consistency built with creativity: a menu that stays reliable in its technique while shifting with what's actually fresh and available. That's why the specific vegetables, garnishes, and preparations around a core dish like the Day Boat Sea Scallops or the Local Black Sea Bass tend to shift through the year, even when the core dish itself remains a menu fixture. It's less a static print than a living document that responds to the calendar.

Beyond the Water

Battello's menu doesn't require every guest to order seafood. The 45 day dry aged Prime 28oz Cowboy Ribeye and the 14oz Prime Dry Aged NY Strip give the kitchen's technique a chance to show up in a completely different register, proof that the same discipline behind the Raw Bar applies to a large-format steak just as much as it does to a scallop.

The Bar Program Follows the Same Philosophy

Battello's cocktail program is built with the same level of intention as the food. The Battello Old Fashioned, made with Great Jones straight bourbon, amaro nonino, maple, and bitters, and the Emmy James, a lavender-infused vodka cocktail with cointreau and lillet blanc, show a bar team working with the same seasonal, ingredient-forward mindset as the kitchen rather than treating cocktails as an afterthought to the wine list. A full wine list and dedicated spirits program round out the options for guests who want something more traditional alongside a seafood-forward meal.

Dessert Follows the Same Thread

Even dessert, under Pastry Chef Stacy Flores, keeps a seasonal, ingredient-driven approach consistent with the rest of the menu. The Cardamom Nutmeg Cake with poached pears and honey ginger mascarpone whip and the Honey Sundae with passion fruit and blood orange sauce both lean on fruit and seasonal flavor rather than defaulting to heavier, more generic restaurant desserts, closing the meal with the same attention to detail that opens it at the Raw Bar.

A Team Effort, Not Just a Chef's Vision

While Chef DePersio sets the direction, the day-to-day execution of a seafood-forward menu at this scale depends on the full kitchen team working alongside Chef de Cuisine Giancarlo Junyent. Seafood is unforgiving in a way that many proteins aren't. It moves from perfectly cooked to overdone in a matter of seconds, and a raw bar program depends on consistency and precision at every single ticket, not just the ones a head chef happens to be standing over. That consistency, across a Friday night at full capacity as much as a quiet Tuesday, is what actually delivers on the promise the menu makes.

Taste the Story Yourself

The best way to understand Battello's culinary identity is to see the range of it on one table, from the Raw Bar to a handmade pasta to a piece of day boat seafood. Explore the full menu or make a reservation to experience it firsthand.