One of Connecticut’s top chefs is driving the menu and concept at a new oyster bar and seafood restaurant in New Haven’s Fair Haven neighborhood.

Emily Mingrone — voted “Chef of the Year” during Connecticut Restaurant Association’s 2021 CRAzies Awards — and Shane McGowan opened Fair Haven Oyster Co. on June 28. The restaurant, an “elevated seafood bar,” is at 307 Front St. in the Quinnipiac River Marina.

Fair Haven Oyster Co. replaces the former Street’s Smokehouse Boathouse restaurant. When Mingrone announced the project in January, she said she and McGowan were approached about the space back in the fall, and knew it was ideal when they saw the waterfront location.

“We had been looking [for another location] anyway, but then we saw this space and said, ‘Yup, this is the one,’” she said.

Mingrone and McGowan are known for Tavern on State, their celebrated East Rock restaurant, and its associated whole-animal butcher shop, Provisions on State. McGowan said they’ve had several ideas for new projects, including a dive bar and steakhouse, but they’ve always talked about a seafood concept.

“We’ve always wanted to do a seafood-focused place, and it’s on the water, so it naturally lends itself to being that,” he said.

At Fair Haven, “elegant mid-century design meets a modern and cozy tavern,” according to its website. Mingrone and McGowan spent six months renovating the space, which features indoor seating for about 28 guests and porthole-style windows along the dining room’s wooden walls. Outside, an expansive deck has seating for another 40, overlooking the water.

Fair Haven Oyster’s raw bar selections feature oysters, littleneck clams and peel-and-eat jumbo shrimp by the piece, with recent oyster selections from Connecticut, Rhode Island and Canada (Newfoundland, New Brunswick and British Columbia). The menu also features tinned fish such as mussels in escabeche, sardines and mackerel fillets in olive oil, served with crusty bread and olives.

A selection of crudos currently feature raw scallops and tuna, lightly dressed with ingredients including olive oil, lemon, sea salt, white balsamic, horseradish and herbs.

“Here, it’s really important for me to showcase the fish,” Mingrone said. “There’s some punchy flavors there, but I didn’t go crazy with the ingredients.”

Lobster bisque will be a staple on the soup and salad menu, Mingrone said, along with a salad Nicoise with olive oil-poached tuna. The restaurant currently offers a tomato-based Manhattan seafood chowder, but she’s also crafted a “Fair Haven” chowder with clear Rhode Island-style broth, miso and local kelp that may return to the menu.

Small plates include baked stuffed clams with shrimp and ‘nduja, a spicy spreadable pork sausage, and steamers, served with clam broth and butter. Chilled crab salad, mixed with Old Bay aioli, is served with celery salad on toast — inspired in part by Southern deviled crab, Mingrone said, but in a cold version. Uni, or sea urchin, is served on toasted brioche with white shoyu, yuzu and sesame oil.

Lobster rolls are served two ways here: classic Connecticut-style with hot butter, with the addition of preserved lemon and brown butter crumbs, and a cold version, with creme fraiche instead of mayonnaise. The cold version is also topped off with smoked trout roe and threads of fresh dill.

“I couldn’t decide on just one,” Mingrone said. “I don’t like the mayo-based lobster roll, but I wanted a version of it, so I used creme fraiche. It complements the lobster nicely.”

In a nod to Tavern on State, Fair Haven also has a cheeseburger, with meat ground fresh at the Provisions butcher shop. A foot-long hot dog is topped with fermented cabbage, chili relish and bacon aioli.

Of the larger plates, the seared scallops have been “flying out of here,” Mingrone and McGowan agreed, with grilled sweet potato and a Peruvian aji amarillo sauce. A black bass entree is another popular dish, with salsa verde, summer squash ragout and toasted farro, and beer-battered hake is Fair Haven’s take on fish and chips, with crispy potato wedges, malt vinegar mayo and fennel slaw.

Desserts will rotate, and currently feature treats such as cherry lime Italian ice with lime sugar, a chocolate mousse with cacao nibs, strawberry shortcake and key lime pie — “simple and comforting,” Mingrone said.

Fair Haven also has a full bar, with a curated beer and wine selection, and McGowan’s cocktail program is focused on gin and sherry, with drinks reflecting the waterfront location and seafood-centric menu.

Drinks are either “shaken” or “stirred,” and early favorites have included the “Swan Dive,” with gin, Pedro Ximenez sherry, orgeat, celery, lemon and fennel pollen. The “Bad Alibi” is another bestseller, with tequila, mezcal, Ancho Reyes chile liqueur, passion fruit and chili oil.

In its first few weeks, Fair Haven has seen plenty of Tavern on State regulars, Mingrone and McGowan said. Alternately, as new guests find Fair Haven, some learn of Tavern on State’s existence for the first time and make plans to go to the State Street restaurant.

“It’s a nice symbiosis,” Mingrone said.

Mingrone is the first-ever female chef to win the CRA’s Chef of the Year award. 2021’s finalists included Ashley Flagg of Millwright’s in Simsbury, Joel Gargano of Grano Arso in Chester, Michone Denae Arrington of The Art of Yum (Southington and Waterbury) and Manuel Romero of Olea in New Haven.

Fair Haven Oyster Co., at 307 Front St. in New Haven, is open Tuesday through Saturday from 4 to 9 p.m. The bar is open later.