Scott Conant’s Scarpetta: A Memorable Space, a Meal Less So

The last time I went to the Village Idiot, I splurged: $6 for a pitcher of beer and $1 to cue up Willie Nelson on the jukebox. I knew it would be my last visit to the honky-tonk, the victim of a rent increase. I didn’t guess, however, that soon I’d be back in the same space, nibbling foie-gras dumplings at a mahogany bar. Scarpetta is the latest upscale Italian restaurant by chef Scott Conant, known for simple, luxurious cooking at L’Impero and Alto. A scarpetta is what we call a sop, a hunk of bread with which to scoop up the sauce from a bowl. Indeed, a meal at Scarpetta comes with a terrific breadbasket containing focaccia, ciabatta, and stromboli-like breads filled with meat and cheese. And there’s plenty of sauces, but in too many cases the sop is better than the sauce.