If you walk in without a reservation you could win a seat at the bar or at one of its comfy lounge tables for dinner, as I did on my third and final visit. To fully appreciate Casa Don Alfonso, however, you must sit in the dining room – or, to be more precise, the common space that Atlanta-based design firm Johnson Studio at Cooper Carry has created from the room. dining room and the adjacent, spacious open plan kitchen.

It is a triumph of light. Infused with the lavender of the hand-painted tiles on the kitchen walls and the copper of the hood system above the cooks in their crisp whites and tall toques, the light shines on the hundreds of hand-blown glass sculptures. hand of wisteria leaves hanging over the dining room resembles a flock of birds in flight and casts a twilight glow at the water’s edge.

Everyone looks spectacular sitting at Casa Don Alfonso, okay? Let’s eat.

The menu is meant to be a sort of elegant but unfussy review of the recipes of the Iaccarino family and, more generally, of the cuisine of the Sorrentine coast. A quote from Italian playwright Eduardo de Filippo (a slightly edited version appears on the cocktail menu; this full sentence is posted on Don Alfonso’s 1890 website) provides the restaurant’s inspiration:

“Of course, if we stay anchored in the past, our life is stagnant, but if we use tradition as a springboard, we will sail that much higher in the air. At their best, chef de cuisine Sergio Chierego and his team almost reach the dizzying heights of Casa Don Alfonso design and self-mythology.