Tough to get a table at Scarpetta's MePa location, but worth the wait
He’s wowed Los Angeles, he’s charmed Miami, not to mention Toronto and Las Vegas, but where it all began for chef Scott Conant and his burgeoning Scarpetta restaurant empire is in New York City.
After having dined extraordinarily well many times at the Los Angeles– actually, Beverly Hills location, and once earlier this year in Miami at the Fontainebleau hotel, we were excited to finally step through the doors at Scarpetta’s Meat Packing District location for the first time recently.
It’s hard to believe that it’s only been open for 2 1/2 years as the restaurant is already well established in New York’s finer restaurant firmament.
A warm welcome greeted us as we stepped first through the bar and then into the high-ceilinged, lively dining room lined with burnished woods and lit with contemporary chandeliers and wall sconces.
And then what proceeded to unfold from the kitchen was our best dinner of the year. We are going to highly recommend the tasting menu, but you won’t get to have exactly what we had, as seasonal changes dictate what’s available.
But the concept is starting off with some of the restaurant’s most well-known appetizers like the raw yellowtail, burrata or creamy polenta, moving into the signature tomato and basil spaghetti…oh, wait, did we forget the fritto misto– some of the best ever? It’s yours for the choosing.
The pasta, even if you don’t opt for the signature tomato and basil, is all made in-house and also includes tagliatelle, farfalle, raviolini and taglioni.
There is a vegetarian menu upon request, but the other main courses include selections of fish, meat and chicken. Choices include a mouthwatering prime aged sirloin, organic roasted chicken, spiced duck breast and pan-roasted halibut. All of the entrées come with delicious accompaniments like asparagus with lemon crème fraîche and caramelized fennel and tomatoes, baby artichokes or our favorite, the English pea purée with radishes and port sauce.
It may be challenging, but you must save a little bit of room for dessert, because Scarpetta’s were, unexpectedly, off the charts. The salted caramel gelato served with chocolate cake had us dreaming about it for days. The after dinner bonbons warranted a small bite and then had us clamoring to have more wrapped up to go so we could enjoy them on a less-sated stomach. They didn’t last long.
Scarpetta NYC, 355 W. 14th St., New York, (212) 691-0555, www.scottconant.com/restaurants
