On Sunday, June 19, New Yorkers looking for a Father’s Day meal will be in for a treat: the grand opening of Adriatic Restaurant & Pizza Bar, located at 321 First Avenue in Manhattan between 18th and 19th Streets.

Featuring a full Italian menu and more than 25 varieties of pizza, Adriatic will be open for business from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day of the week. It is owned and managed by Elio, who currently owns and manages Ancora Ristorante, located at 11 Stone Street in Manhattan’s Financial District. The site of Adriatic has been home to a restaurant operated since 1987 by members of Elio’s family before he bought it.

Elio, who has run Ancora for a decade and has been in the restaurant business for 25 years, is enthusiastic about his new restaurant in the Gramercy District. “We expect Adriatic to reap the benefits of its proximity to Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town, in addition to attracting diners from around the city,” he says. “Also, pizza bars are very hot in New York today, so we are confident we have a winning formula.”

Adriatic will feature 50 seats in its back room for dinner guests, with seating for 20 additional guests up front. The restaurant will be outfitted with mahogany tables and chairs and will sport a bar made from mahogany and copper.

Chef Ricardo, who received his culinary training in Rome and is a veteran of Ancora’s cooking staff, has been chosen by Elio to serve as head chef of Adriatic. A second chef for Adriatic is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York.