Illata, a new BYOB, aims for simplicity — not a challenge when there are only 20 seats

There are simple BYOBs, and now there is Illata:

Just 20 seats in a spartan room that was the former Green Aisle Grocery on Grays Ferry Avenue, just off 23rd and South Streets on the edge of Devil’s Pocket. Fresh flowers in vases on the marble tables. Cream walls. Big windows. Tiny menu. No sign to speak of, other than a script “illata” on the facade and at the bottom of a window. Open galley kitchen in the back, so small you’d have to step outside to change your mind.

Illata (means occasion) has a similar vibe to the earlier crop of BYOBs such as Audrey Claire and Stock. The patrons are the atmosphere, as much as the decor itself.

Chef Aaron Randi, 32, born to a big Italian family near New Haven, Conn., opened today with a modern American menu influenced by the cooking of his upbringing. Randi had cooked at Dale Talde’s Massoni in Manhattan and Leo in Brooklyn before he relocated to join his girlfriend, Hannah Albertine, who had landed the food editor job at Philadelphia Magazine. (In a meta development, Randi did a pop-up last summer with former Philly Mag food editor Alex Tewfik at his Mish Mish in South Philadelphia.)

Randi said Illata’s menu will change to match the season.

At the opening, he’s high on the marinated mussels, served cold with miso chili oil, a lot of garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and fish sauce with slices of peppery baby Hakurei turnips that he lightly roasts. The fried clams are “kind of something like I grew up eating,” he said. “My dad would take me to like this place called Paul’s and get fried clam strips.”

There’s a rigatoni Amatriana as an entree, though you might also be steered toward trout with borlotti beans, Swiss chard, and pistou. Plates are $15 to $28.

General manager Sophie Wieber also bakes the bread, while Randi does the desserts — currently two: a chocolate cream puff with coffee and almonds and brown butter tart with rhubarb and crème fraîche.

It’s open for dinner Thursday to Sunday, with reservations through Resy.