SESAMO - Italian Restaurant Hell's Kitchen — Restaurant in New York

I met a friend here for a weekday lunch and we hadn't eaten here before but oh, what a treat! I wish I would remember to be the kind of person to photo my food but I'm just not, so you'll have to trust me, everything looked as good as it tasted, and I am a BIG fan of food presentation. And ambience! Which this place has in spades.

For you TLDR folks, here's a rundown:

Their cocktail menu is interesting in a good way, and we are cocktail people so this was one of the things we were most excited about. I almost always default to a Negroni, and they have a good one on their menu (Gin, Antica Vermouth, Genepy Hebetet, Orange bitters) but I was determined to get something different so I opted for the Star Child instead (Japanese Whisky, Elderflower Liqueur, Amaro Montenergo, Dandelion and Burdock bitters) and it was AMAZING, but of course I'm true to type because I realized as soon as I tasted it that the Star Child is a marvelous variation of a Negroni. All to say, I was quite happy. My friend had a cocktail called the Golden Hour, which is a variation on an Italian cocktail called the Last Word (Gin, Green Chartreuse, Cynar, Luxardo, Lemon bitters), and offering depth and character, it was very good too.

For food, we shared a Radicchio Salad (SO prettily plated, I am a sucker for watermelon radishes sliced delicately thin, and they are delicious to boot), and Winter Crostini (squash, maple, ricotta, mint/Thai pesto, mizuna) and the heavy dab of pesto combined with the squash and offset by the other flavors made this gloriously Earthy. The ONLY thing I might’ve wished for is a dab of chunky salt overtop, but then, I like things salty. Our main dishes were Mackerel Carbonara (which I appreciated and my friend didn’t, but he confessed to a Mackerel aversion so I think his opinion can be safely discounted), and Duck Ragu Pappardelle (I don’t eat birds so I didn’t try this but he reported it as fantastic, and it was plated very nicely). We rounded out with a Matcha Tiramisu. I wish I liked Matcha better but to me it just tastes like straw mixed with dirt so I wasn’t a fan. BUT, it was beautifully presented, and the texture was fabulous, so if Matcha is your thing, have at it with confidence.

As the lunch rush wound down, we chatted with the bartender/waiter over amaro and lemoncello (ooh, house made!) and learned more about the backstory of the restaurant, and about his standup comedy career (both fascinating and worth delving into). This conversation, along with our perfect afternoon lunch experience at Sesamo made me want to post a review, which is something I don’t do too often these days – I save it for when a place or an experience is really a cut above, which Sesamo is.

All to say: highly recommend that you...

We came to Sesamo because of my friend’s recommendation. Even though it was a Friday night and the restaurant was full, it didn't feel too crowded. Great music, design, and a cozy atmosphere. It was a Friday night before Halloween, and the team at Sesamo restaurant did fantastic work with their Halloween decorations. Also, they have nice seating with a big red leather bench. I guess that space is for large groups of 6 and more, and I highly recommend requesting that spot if your group is large enough.

Sesamo serves Italian cuisine with some Asian fusion, which is an excellent combination.

Their service is also great. Our server Varsh was very accommodating, with plenty of great recommendations and knowledge about the dishes. Very positiveattitude and a beautiful smile. Very professional too.

We ordered a few appetizers for sharing: ⁃ Charcuterie board ⁃ Salmon crostini ⁃ Roasted broccoli Highly recommend the first two dishes.

The size of the charcuterie board is big enough to share. Chicken liver mousse had an incredible taste with a light and gentle texture. Good combination with a savory blue fish on the same plate.

Salmon crostini would be my favorite appetizer. Local smoked salmon tartare with local mustard ricotta and toasted bread was delicious, and the combination of ingredients let me enjoy each bite of that dish.

Roasted broccoli was also very delicious. The curry on a peanut sauce takes one point out of this dish personally for me, but if you like curry, you will be in love with this dish as well.

Entree: We ordered a Coconut Miso Salmon and lobster ravioli. Both of them deserve my high recommendation. The curry sauce made the salmon taste different, and that change is in a good way. Black rice finished the picture and gave a positive word about this dish. Lobster ravioli is very light, and even though it is pasta, it doesn't feel like a heavy dish. Very gentle texture. The temperature of the stuffing was warm enough to enjoy the taste and don't burn your tongue :-) Highly recommended.

We finished it with crème brûlée, and you’ll never go wrong with this one. Excellent finish for a fantastic dinner in a wonderful restaurant.

We have been lucky enough to meet with Sabrina, the restaurant owner. She has a great personality, and her positive and welcoming energy spills throughout the entire restaurant. I highly recommend this place, and I can't wait to come back again!

Thank...

After seeing Sesamo on our first night in NY, we thought this would to be a great post-marathon celebration dinner. The restaurant has a creative menu and the ambience is warm and inviting. We arrived early for our 6:45 dinner, were sat quickly and provided water. After 15 minutes of waiting, we were asked about drinks and we attempted to order only to be provided with a laundry list of the dishes they were out of. The gentleman apologized for the delay and the shortage of supplies. After reconsidering our food choices, we ordered and were essentially left alone… No one checked on us. No one offered to refill our water. The restaurant wasn’t packed and the wait staff were just at the host stand chatting save for one server who was rolling silver ware. He realized we didn’t have any water, so offered to bring us water and bread. Unfortunately, he forgot the water and again we had to request it. After we received our entrees, the staff was again absent and otherwise preoccupied with talking or looking at their cellphones. Again, the restaurant wasn’t busy but based on the service you’d think they were all triple sat with large parties.

Alone, none of these issues are a big deal but together they made for a very lackluster experience. I’ve lived in LA, SD, the Bay Area, and PDX and had high expectations for NYC dining. For a restaurant which is trying to present itself as fine dining, it does not provide the fine dining experience that you might expect.

So, the wait staff is meh, but I will give high praise to the kitchen staff as we were all quite happy with our entrees. This was by far the highlight of the dining experience and if the wait staff were more attentive this would have been a four to five star review. Without the kitchen, I probably would have given the restaurant a two star review. So, hopefully, the owner or the wait staff gives them 90% of the nights tips.

Hopefully, this was just an off night and others have a better experience...