Just recently I had three friends visiting from out of town and they asked me to take them to somewhere amazing in the Meatpacking District, I insisted on Scarpetta, a great Italian restaurant that I discovered during the New York City Food and Wine Festival, and judging by their reactions I made the right decision.

The restaurant is nicely laid out; the front section is where the bar is with some tables for casual dining and down the back is the main dining room, an earthy toned room that is not too big, just the right size to feel comfortable and cozy. The tables that line the walls are made up of brown leather high-back booths; there are mirrors along the walls suspended by leather straps; the ceiling is made of wooden beams and a skylight that looks up in to the New York sky. I particularly loved the lighting; hanging from the ceiling is the now classic Edison light bulbs, which create a warm intimate glow in the room.

As you would expect the star of the show was most definitely the food, it is probably the best Italian that I have had in a long time. For starters our table ordered Short Ribs of Beef that sat on a vegetable and farro risotto; Creamy Polenta with a fricassée of delicious mushrooms with truffle oil; and Scallops with baby greens, avocado, citrus salad & chives

For entrées we had Duck and Foie Gras Ravioli with a marsala reduction, the ravioli pastry was so soft and perfect you could taste they were made fresh; Black Maccheroni with mixed seafood, sea urchin & bread crumbs, the pasta is made black by using squid ink; a succulent and tender Ribeye of Beef with roasted fall vegetables and a truffled spinach puree; and I had to have the Cavatelli with braised rabbit, parsnips & mint. I was never a fan of rabbit but the flavor in this dish is so amazing that any hang-ups I had were out the window. The texture of the rabbit meat is soft and the flavors complement the pasta perfectly.

Although we were full the dessert menu was too good to say no to, so we tried two dishes, the Amedi Chocolate Cake with burnt orange-caramel gelato, espresso sauce; and the Chestnut Cake. Both were gone faster than they arrived.

Every dish left the table clean, the total bill was a little pricey but we left with out feeling buyer’s guilt, the whole experience was definitely worth it the price.

Martin Burgess

Scarpetta is located at 355 W 14th St, New York, NY 10011, PH: 212-691-0555