Amarante's Sea Cliff hosts meetings, conferences, trainings, galas, fundraisers, holiday parties and weddings for 50 to 280 guests on the shore of Morris Cove in New Haven, Connecticut. The family-owned venue has two private rooms, the Grand Ballroom and The Inn, each with water views, and it has staged events on the cove since 1957. Each room is reserved for one party and never shared.
Seminars and company events
The Grand Ballroom takes 125 to 280 guests for conferences, galas and company-wide celebrations, and The Inn takes 50 to 150 for meetings, trainings and team dinners. Both come with Wi-Fi and audiovisual equipment, including microphones, screens and podiums. Corporate menus cover breakfast and brunch, luncheons, dinners and banquets, and cocktail receptions. Parking on site is free. Community organizations and nonprofits can also book, and the venue runs shared holiday parties for smaller groups at year end.
Weddings and receptions
The ceremony, cocktail hour and reception can all take place on the property. Waterfront ceremonies use the lawn and the gazebo and include a separate rehearsal, seating and coordination. Wedding minimums are 50 guests on weekdays and 75 on weekends. Bar options range from coffee service to a premium open bar of five or six hours with a champagne toast. Daytime events often begin around 11 a.m. or noon and evening receptions around 5:30 or 6:30 p.m. Couples may bring an outside cake after talking to the events team, and they can bring their own entertainment, decorators and photographers.
Rooms and capacities
The Grand Ballroom holds 125 to 280 guests in its own building with its own deck, high ceilings, a dance floor and views over Long Island Sound on every side. The Inn holds 50 to 150 guests and looks out over Morris Cove through a wall of windows. Layouts are drawn around the guest count and format. The Deck, a seasonal outdoor restaurant, is closed for the 2026 season.
Catering
All menus are prepared by the venue's own chefs in its own kitchen, and the bar is run in-house. The kitchen is shared, so full allergen separation cannot be guaranteed. The venue does not make wedding cakes and suggests local bakeries.
History and setting
The shoreline has been a place for dining and dancing for over a century. Guests once arrived by trolley and chauffeured car, and The Inn hid a speakeasy during Prohibition. Andy Amarante, known as Sonny, bought the Sea Cliff after serving in the US Navy and graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, then in New Haven. The family has owned it since 1962, and three sisters of the second generation run it today.
Getting there
The address is 62 Cove Street, New Haven, CT 06512, on the east shore of the harbor. Free parking sits next to The Inn and the Grand Ballroom, with overflow on the lawn on busy evenings. Nearby hotels include Home2 Suites by Hilton East Haven, Hotel Marcel, Hotel New Haven and the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale.
