Price: $11

Ingredients: Bombay gin, Maraschino liqueur, lime juice, muddled cucumber, basil

Taste: Refreshing. “The Maraschino liqueur softens up whatever flavor you put it with,” explains Roberto
Porsia, Serafina’s general manager. “So even if you’re not a big gin drinker, you’re going to like it.”

Pair it with: Tartare di Sofia, served atop cucumber slices ($16).

Context: Serafina’s first New England outpost serves up Italian staples—like Bellinis and Negronis—as well as some novelties not found on the New York-based restaurant group’s other menus, including a spicy cucumber drink with vodka and jalapeno and a Pimm’s cocktail featuring Domain de Canton and ginger beer. “My drink program is completely not reinventing the wheel. I’m old-school Italian. I grew up in Italy; I have an Italian restaurant,” says Porsia, who also spent time at the Ames Hotel, Rialto and, most recently, Bastille Kitchen. “I like simple things: beer, wine and basic cocktails. There’s no reason to wait 10 minutes for a cocktail and use ingredients you can’t even pronounce, and shake and burn and light things on fire. Our cocktails are very simple; they’re friendly, approachable.”

On Deck: A patio, which should debut by next spring. Until then, there are 140
seats, including three private dining rooms—one behind the door of an old bank vault.

Serafina 10 High St., Boston (617-426-1234) serafinaboston.com