Scarpetta — Restaurant in New York

So, for the longest time, my two uncles would always talk about how excited they are about their reservations at Scarpetta. They've always raved about it, and I hadn't been yet! Their excitement sparked MY excitement! I finally got to go, AND film my experience there, for my food vlog!

First off, I went during COVID back in September. They had a beautiful outdoor, almost Garden of Eden kinda vibe for their set up. It was so beautiful and well done. They had the Scarpetta sign on the outside which is extremely photogenic. They followed COVID guidelines and were extremely cleanly.

Ok, so when I was seated, they brought out the most amazing assortment of breads. This wasn't no packaged, Wonder bread! This bread was freshly made, with meats, some with cheeses, olive oil, olives on some, etc. This bread was scrumptious! The best I've had in a while! Omg. I started off with an old fashioned with Rittenhouse Rye whiskey. It was so smooth, and well made. My friend ordered a Cosmo, which I tasted. Not only was it served in a beautiful, fun crystal glass lol, but the drink itself was great! Believe it or not, Cosmos are not easy to make, so I knew a mixologist made these drinks, and they knew what they were doing!

Ok, so we get into the food. I ordered the charred octopus, and chile....it was perfect! In every way. I tasted that perfect grill char. The octopus had a delicious, meaty texture. The sauces, the flavor of it! Just seriously, some of the best octopus I've ever had. So simple, yet so complex in flavor. For the entree, I ordered the short rib and bone marrow agnolotti............wow. It was served in this cool dome lookin' thing, which was an awesome presentation. Biting into this pasta took me on a ride that I'll always remember. The fat from the bone marrow just made the pasta so creamy and rich. The short rib was beyond tender, and I feel it was slow cooked. You really don't even have to chew it, it's so tender. It was almost like butter! Ha! Melt in ya mouf!!

Ok, we ordered two desserts! The espresso budino being the first. This was like a rich, creamy pudding! The salted caramel was truly it's own star! It was silky! It came with a biscotti, which you HAD to eat with it, because it gave you more crunch! I could've taken a bath in that hazelnut gelato! Ugh! The second dessert was the ricotta cheesecake, which would make the best of us wanna slap somebody nearby smh. There were so many amazing flavors happening. It came with this pretty, swirly white chocolate ring thing-y, pomegranate sorbe, and black figs! This was another thing, where it's crucial to eat everything together. Everything compliments one another! That cheesecake was beyond rich and creamy, I mean......we shared it, but I really needed my own.

The service was perfection! Our waitress, the bussers, etc. were all great! I finally got to see why my uncles were always so excited about making reservations here. It is genuine, authentic, well thought out, Italian cuisine. It's a bit pricey, but a MUST GO TO in NYC. They have other locations in other major cities as well! Perfection! Not a...

I want to preface that Scarpetta is a good restaurant with good food, drinks and is posh/a vibe, BUT the reason why I gave them a three is because the restaurant manager/ hostess were a little rude. I say a little not very rude because the hostess’ attitude changed as we got closer to getting our table. The attitude started because originally we had a reservation for Thursday for 7 ppl at 8:30 and plans changed in which we had switched to 5 @ 9 PM on a Friday. Now i understand its a Friday, but what transpired afterwards could have been handled better. Upon switching the reservation, whomever working bumped us from being indoor to outside. Not that the outside was not lovely, I wanted to be inside and did not understand how it could go from indoors to outdoors when i specified indoors on the reservation. The restaurant manager who was roughly mid 30’s I would say got involved because the hostess could not give the dissenting decision to sit us inside responded to an already aggravated customer “sorry, its gunna be a minute”. Now, a minute in Gen Z/ millennial terms means a long time. I could not fathom why someone of his age/ position in the restaurant chose to use that type of answer. I think he’s hoping to get discovered and really doesn't care much to be a restaurant manager, based on the reaction and overall “vibe” he was giving off. I understand that this place is a vibe and may come with a certain reaction (you know the posh restaurants with that certain type of attitude you only see in cliché movies), but like an actual time approximation would be great. Speaking of, I asked him again what the actual wait was in which i got in return “its gunna be a minute”. Clearly I was not getting anywhere so i had to start sounding it out for him I then asked “would you say 45,50, an hour???” and i got 45… hoorayyy we got a number. We got seated in 55, not so bad given my already low/ medium expectations (I only say medium bc the drinks at the bar were v good). However, when we were seated it was AWESOME… good food (portions are small but tasty deliciousness), good drinks and great service. Can’t remember our waitress’s name. I feel like its bonnie or something fun like that. Anywhoooo it gets a 3 star, do better restaurant manager (great aesthetic just not...

Made the reservations in advance for my boyfriend’s birthday, specifically asking for a nice table. When we got there, they tried to seat us in the tiniest table in between two big groups of people. I asked them kindly to change our spots, they weren’t too happy to accommodate but eventually, they sat us at a corner table.

They first came with drinks and a basket of assorted bread; it was very good. Our server was nice, and she explained the menu to us, so we knew what we were getting. We started off with the Seared Scallops and Creamy Polenta. They both were very good, but the polenta came out very cold. I told the server, she apologized and quickly cleared up the table.

We then ordered the Spaghetti & Short Rib & Bone Marrow Agnolotti both pastas were excellent, we definitely could have ordered another round. Took them a while to ask if we wanted another drink, but all good.

It wasn’t until the end, when we ordered the Akaushi Wagyu Strip when we decided we had enough. We were still hungry so when the meat came out, we were happy, but one bite and disappointing. The wagyu was tough couldn’t even cut properly with a sharp knife and tasted like iron. I think the server saw my face and came right over. I explained to her the issue, and she quickly removed from table & offered something else in place. We kindly declined and we just wanted the check.

Not long after the manager (Armando) came over with an apology about the entire dinner experience. He was very kind, he offered us something else for dinner, desserts and drinks on him. I will say if not for him, we would have left extremely disappointed. He was very professional, brought us out 3 different desserts & glass of very good champagne. He wanted to make sure we come back to have a proper Scarpetta dinner experience, so he gave us his card with personal email on it and told us to come back anytime on him.

All in all, the start of the dinner wasn’t the greatest but the manager trying to make things right is what gave this the rating. If it weren’t for him, I would of never came back, but because of his hospitality we shall be back to give it...