Salt on the Water taking over former ITA Kitchen in East Moriches

For three summers, ITA Kitchen has offered magnificent views of Tutthill Cove and Moriches Bay from its perch in East Moriches’ Atlantic Marina, but now the Italian American eatery’s signature faux-flower archway has been dismantled to make way for a second location of Merrick’s Salt on the Water, a top waterfront restaurant.

The two businesses have overlapping ownership: Christina and Salvatore Sorrentino operate ITA Kitchens in Garden City South and Patchogue. (The original, opened in Bay Shore in 2019, closed last year.) Salt’s co-owner, John Cestare, is also a partner at ITA Kitchen and has had an eye on the property for years. "We always thought of this as a pop-up," Christina said. "We were holding it until it became a Salt."

Salt, it would seem, is a fitting concept for the spot. Since 2016, its sprawling deck has attracted crowds to the shores of Merrick’s East Bay, a body of water overlooked by only one other eatery, Fabio’s. Cestare, whose partners in Salt are Matt McBride and Steve Buccella, said 2023 would have been premature to open in East Moriches. "This wasn’t something that could happen overnight, and we weren’t ready to do it at that point."

Renovations have begun and, he said, the menu will be identical to the one in Merrick. He is shooting for a June opening.