Why open a coastal Italian restaurant on the Upper East Side? Well, the neighborhood has a coast of its own, according to Mark Barak. "We're not too far from the river," joked Barak, founder and CEO of La Pecora Bianca — a group of chic Italian restaurants opening its first Upper East Side location on Thursday.

The eagerly anticipated restaurant will occupy the ground floor of Beckford House, a new luxury condo building on the corner of East 81st Street and Second Avenue. More than a year in the making, it marks the seventh location for La Pecora Bianca, following other recent openings on the Upper West Side and Midtown.