I had dinner at Scarpetta on Monday night. I specifically wanted to check out the new Thompson Hotel including the Roof Top Lounge.
This hotel and Scott Conant certainly have a lot of hype and the hype was, in my opinion, overrated. The food was very good. However, the service was eager but not at all smooth or in the league of the prices, menu, hype or the Thompson Hotel intention. Staff were young and really were trying to be smooth, cool and hip but no where near any of those adjectives. The sommelier had limited knowledge and was trying to impress but lacked depth or proper training.
We ordered the Heirloom Salad with stracciatella and marinated eggplant first to share. It was very good. Balanced salt, beautiful presentation and the stracciatella was amazing. We then had them split two pasta dishes to get a sample of each - Duck and Foie Gras Ravioli and the Pheasant Tortelli. Very small portions but the flavours and textures were great. They split each pasta and served them to each of us in a separate white porcelain covered dish. Good creative touch.
For dessert we ordered three cheeses and the Amadei Chocolate Cake. The Chocolate Cake was amazing. Likely the highlight of the evening. We also paired it with a dessert sherry that complimented the chocolate and cheeses nicely.
Overall the room is good but not amazing. They are trying to be hip and cool but the lighting and rough incongruent design elements make it a bit hard for my fussy eyes to handle. The window LED lights were annoying and needed a glass shield to avoid a tan on the back of your head. They might work for outside sidewalk walkers but not for a diner sitting at the window. If the service was in line with the food and hype it would have gotten a 4 out of 5 rating. Would not do a repeat anytime soon other than a cocktail in the roof top lounge in the summer. The infinity pool was quite cool.