What’s Not to Like?

Tutto Mare is a beautiful restaurant with an understated seafood theme. You won’t be knocked over the head with fishnets and conch shells. Instead, turquoise tile lights and a school of sculpted fish swimming over an archway provide the watery motif.

The dining room’s spare sophistication includes European vermouth posters and cherrywood furniture. It all looks tres chic without seeming pretentious, which is an accomplishment in Newport Beach.

The food is coastal Italian with an emphasis on fresh ingredients and clever presentations. Manager Stefano Albano and chef Rocco Ianni have created seafood combinations that flirt with Italian authenticity but are tempered by California leanings, such as pepper-encrusted ahi and fresh chopped Hawaiian tuna with caviar.

Like the service and the decor, the live music provided by a classical guitarist is subtle; it’s unobtrusive but gets the job done.

Before you can say what’s for brunch, a basket arrives with warm, doughy focaccia topped with grilled onions. Tutto Mare’s iridescent aqua menu reveals a selection of regular dinner options that can be ordered Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., but the multicourse brunch for $21.95 is a delicious bargain, from tavaolata di antipasti freddi, a cold buffet table of appetizers, salads and fruits, to dolci, the desserts.

*

For the first course, a lavish assortment of fresh seafood and salads awaits you. Choose among the smoked fish, prosciutto, carpaccio (raw thinly sliced beef); a salad of calamari and langostinos; mussels with a piquant tomato sauce, and fresh mozzarella. Chicken rolls stuffed with sausage, baked tomatoes, roasted eggplant with herbs and mushrooms and sardines are some of the other choices from the cold buffet.

Next, head for the hot buffet table for eggs made to order; omelets cooked while you wait with thinly sliced ham, onions, cheese or vegetables; sauteed potatoes with onions and herbs and excellent al dente pasta with a choice of tomato or creamy garlic sauce.

The four main dishes include a fresh fish of the day (delicious, moist salmon with pesto cream sauce on our visit), a flavorful grilled chicken in lemon sauce with capers and herbs, grilled rack of lamb cooked medium-rare with just the right amount of rosemary, and grilled pork chop, tender and moist in a red-wine reduction sauce.

*

Each dish is cooked on a wood fire that can be seen from the dining room. As if the fire were not proof enough, the meats and fish are crisscrossed with blackened grill marks that impart their smoky flavor. How many times have you ordered “grilled” fish or chicken, only to receive a pallid baked or roasted slab instead?

Just when you think you’ll never eat another bite, a dessert cart laden with wicked treats comes around. We tried a rich cheesecake with chocolate crumb crust, an Amaretto flan with strawberries, caramel ice cream in cream puffs with chocolate sauce and a banana cream pie with whipped cream.

We tried, but we couldn’t find anything to grumble about during our entire visit. This is definitely the place to bring your fussy relatives.

* Tutto Mare, 545 Newport Center Dr., Fashion Island, Newport Beach, (949) 640-6333. Brunch: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. $21.95 fixed price brunch; $13.95 for children younger than 12.