THE JOY OF CHEESECAKE: There was a buzz of excitement during opening night at Huntington’s newest restaurant, Porto Vivo (7 Gerard Street, Huntington 631-385-8486 porto-vivo.com) this past Saturday. A lively bar crowd added to the atmosphere, and the tables were filled in both the ground and upper level dining rooms. The rustic Italian theme is in menu only; décor is chic, upscale and modern. The menu was sans sticker shock, though an almost algorithmic approach to ordering can result in a higher than expected tab. Among the stars of the evening were the fried artichoke heart appetizer, a lobster and crab ravioli, and wild salmon with a licorice-y fennel aioli. For dessert, owner and QVC TV shopping queen Joy Mangano’s signature cheesecake was nicely complemented with blackberries. Mangano greeted guests at the reservations desk while her partner and soon-to-be son-in-law, Philipp Seipelt, worked the rooms with fiancée Jacqueline Mangano. A sharp-looking couple, they chatted with patrons and smoothly ironed out those opening night wrinkles.

STANLEY VISITS: The Stanley Cup has been in the White House, the Kremlin and now at Prime Restaurant (117 New York Avenue, Huntington 631-385-1515 primerestaurantlongisland.com) on Huntington Harbor. That’s where Pittsburgh Penguin Bill Guerin, a two-time Stanley Cup winner and Long Island resident, chose to take the 35-pound trophy as part of his 24-hour celebration with it, family and friends on Saturday, Aug. 15. At the party for 250 people, Executive Chef Gregg Lauletta prepared hors d’oeuvres of baby lamb chops, crab cakes with aioli, crispy shrimp, mini-Kobe burger sliders, pulled pork sliders, baby back ribs, tomato and mozzarella Napoleons, and pork and chive dumplings. The most popular of eight stations, a giant raw bar featured an ice sculpture of the Pittsburgh Penguins emblem. Two sculptures of clams, heaped with 70 pounds of giant shrimp, decked the table, as did 110 pounds of lobster (five 10-pounders and 60 1-pounders), bushels of clams and oysters. In between photos with the trophy and relaxing with his guests, Guerin was spotted favoring a tornado roll (shrimp, avocado, fried potato and eel sauce) along with wild mushroom risotto made with shaved Parmigiana and truffle oil.

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