{"id":135,"date":"2009-05-17T22:30:00","date_gmt":"2009-05-17T22:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/endoedibles.ifm.yji.mybluehost.me\/?p=135"},"modified":"2009-05-17T22:30:00","modified_gmt":"2009-05-17T22:30:00","slug":"scarpetta-new-york-ny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/?p=135","title":{"rendered":"Scarpetta, New York NY"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I\u2019ll admit it \u2013 being from the Midwest where \u201cgood Italian\u201d pretty muchentails Olive Garden it is easy to get swept away by the hype surrounding Batali\u2019s joints, Il Mulino, and other well established New York institutions \u2013 with that said, my meal at Babbo last year was absolutely fantastic and the pizza at Otto was pretty darn good \u2013 my attempts at dishes from the Babbo cookbook have also fared quite well. <\/span>Those things noted, after two good Italian visits to New York in past years I\u2019ll have to admit I\u2019ve been largely unimpressed by other \u201cfine dining\u201d Italian aside from Spiaggia in Chicago and Rigsby\u2019s in Columbus ever since \u2013 from La Botte to Valentino to Batali\u2019s Mozza the California Italian left me mostly indifferent and as such I looked forward to getting back to NYC for some good haute-Italian.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Arriving after a great day of eating and browsing the galleries and stores of lower Manhattan I checked my bag at the hostess stand and was immediately led to a small table near the window up front \u2013 great for people watching out in the meat-packing district and with a full view of the main dining room and bar. <\/span>While I will admit the music was a bit loud for my liking, it certainly was no more-so than Babbo and the temperature up front was cool enough to wear a jacket, yet not so cold that I felt chilly or that it affected the food \u2013 though my neighbors did complain of both. <\/span>(note, I was the only solo diner present and the complaining diners were an older couple who seemed quite confused by the \u201cnew Italian\u201d menu \u2013 the male particularly grumbling about everything non-spaghetti \u2013 thankfully they were later replaced by a younger male-couple who were quite friendly and inquired about my picture taking and job and had great recommendations for what was\/wasn\u2019t worth seeing in Chelsea \u2013 much more pleasant, for sure.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Shortly after seating I was greeted by my server, an attractive and friendly yet professional young lady named Anastasia (seriously, the service at Scarpetta \u2013 even in the bar area \u2013 was on par with what I received at Jean Georges and with more personality.) <\/span>Handed a menu to browse I was also presented with a bread basket featuring a hearty and crusty ciabatta, oiled and aromatic rosemary forcaccia, and an absolutely mind-blowing Salami and Mozzarella Bread with a trio of toppings including Citrus infused Olive Oil (good, but standard), Roasted Eggplant Caponata (superb, I finished 3 servings,) and <\/span>Mascarpone Butter (tasted like a sheep\u2019s butter, but more airy and succulent.) <\/span>While I must say I have a strong love for Bread Baskets in general, this example was particularly impressive and in-and-of-itself a reason to love Scarpetta.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Taking my focus of the breadbasket for a moment and focusing on the menu I was suddenly faced with a conundrum \u2013 there were 3 appetizers, 4 pastas, and 2 mains that sounded delightful. <\/span>With wishful thinking on my mind I asked Anastasia (who I must note I think I may have fell in love with during the meal \u2013 any friendly and attractive woman who bears salami mozzarella bread is a winner in my eyes) whether half orders of the pasta were available \u2013 alas, no luck. <\/span>Judging my hunger and knowing dessert was a must I decided at that point 2 pastas would be my max and as much as I wanted to try the spaghetti I just couldn\u2019t do it \u2013 thankfully I picked up a copy of Chef Conant\u2019s magazine at the front which contained recipes for both the Spaghetti and the creamy polenta with mushrooms \u2013 for free. <\/span>Placing my orders I sat and listened to the music and the conversation around me while devouring more bread.<\/span><\/p>\n

After approximately 20 minutes my first dish arrived \u2013 and oh what a dish it was. <\/span>Entitled DUCK AND FOIE GRAS RAVIOLI with Marsala reduction I\u2019d experienced similar once before \u2013 the famous version at Babbo\u2026as a matter of fact, aside from the Gnocchi at Bouchon it was probably my favorite pasta of all time \u2013 until I took my first bite of this. <\/span>Words cannot describe the texture \u2013 like silk, butter, cream \u2013 you get the picture. <\/span>Pasta so thin it seemed impossible, a marsala sauce clearly enhanced with balsamic vinegar, butter, chives \u2013 sweet and savory all at once \u2013 bringing the meaty perfection of the duck\/foie filling to a peak that permeated the nose and palate as much as the tongue \u2013 completed true Scarpetta style I wiped the plate clean with a piece of the ciabatta.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Already impressed yet perhaps wishing I\u2019d received the Foie second in order to \u201csave the best for last\u201d I once again waited approximately 15-20 minutes (while trying desperately to keep my hands out of that damned bread basket) before my second dish arrived on a covered dish and dramatically \u201cunmasked\u201d by a male from the kitchen-staff at tableside. <\/span>Entitled BLACK MACCHERONI with mixed seafood, sea urchin & bread crumbs the very first thing to strike me was the beauty \u2013 the thick, long, and perfectly al dente noodles intermingled with long strands of long-cut calamari and glistening with hints of a light broth highlighted with yellow chunks of uni, fresh pieces of crab and lobster, and breadcrumbs accented with a spice I couldn\u2019t identify (perhaps a refined oregano.) <\/span>The second aspect of the dish, the smell, matched the visual effect \u2013 it smelled like the sea, capturing its very essence with a hint of spiciness and butter providing a base. <\/span>Finally, the taste \u2013 incredible \u2013 not since Kinch\u2019s \u201ctidal pool\u201d at Manresa have I experienced so many different tastes and textures with the spongy pasta, meaty yet flawless seafood, smooth and light broth, crunchy bread crumbs, and fatty\/melt-in-the-mouth uni. <\/span>Once again a piece of bread found its way into my hand as I sopped up every last drop \u2013 and considered licking the plate.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Feeling somewhat full at this point I opted to skip the interesting cheese plate (essentially a \u201cselect your own\u201d approach with each cheese paired with 1 or 2 complements) and stick with a single dessert \u2013 although 3 sounded amazing. <\/span>In my traditional fashion when faced with such decisions I deferred to my server who began by saying everything was good but quickly corrected herself to saying the Chocolate Cake was \u201camazing.\u201d <\/span>\u201cAmazing works,\u201d I said \u2013 \u201cand I\u2019ll take some coffee as well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Thankfully with the bread basket was taken away from me at this point and the coffee was brought quickly (again without Equal) \u2013 a bold yet somewhat boring blend that, for me, seemed more like a breakfast coffee than a \u201cfeature\u201d coffee, but it certainly wasn\u2019t bad. <\/span>Another 10 minutes later my dessert arrived. <\/span>Apparently Scarpetta\u2019s signature dessert – AMEDEI CHOCOLATE CAKE with burnt orange-caramel gelato and espresso sauce. <\/span>Having had a great chocolate lava cake the night before at Crop and two weeks earlier at the Ritz Dining Room (and subsequently having the fabled version at Jean-Georges) all I can say is that if you\u2019re going to have a signature dessert, make it this well! <\/span>Utilizing the deep Tuscan chocolate to the maximum of its breadth by accenting both the sweet (with the sublime caramel-blood orange gelato \u2013 possibly as good as the balsamic caramel at Humphry Slocombe) and the bitter (with the rich yet understated espresso sauce) the cake was absolutely amazing \u2013 the best I\u2019ve ever had and, like the breads and pastas, reason enough to return.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A<\/span>ll things stated, I simply cannot recommend Scarpetta enough. <\/span>Reading Conant\u2019s magazine (and soon ordering his new cookbook) I love his simplistic ideals of enhancing the very essence of the ingredients without \u201coverdoing it\u201d and everything about the restaurant, from the ambiance (not casual, but not stuffy) to the food (both Conant\u2019s incredible pastas and Minos\u2019 surreal desserts) follows that goal with great aplomb. <\/span>If I were to offer one complaint (more a suggestion) it would be a Babbo-esque pasta tasting menu because, quite frankly, if I went back I\u2019d want to order things I hadn\u2019t tried but would have a hard time not re-ordering the same thing because it was that excellent.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ll admit it \u2013 being from the Midwest where \u201cgood Italian\u201d pretty muchentails Olive Garden it is easy to get swept away by the hype surrounding Batali\u2019s joints, Il Mulino, and other well established New York institutions \u2013 with that … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,28,107,13,45,27,153,16,180,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bread-basket","category-coffee","category-crab","category-dessert","category-foie","category-food","category-ice-cream","category-italian","category-scarpetta","category-vacation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}