Look up any review of Scarpetta in Beverly Hills and you’ll be met with a plethora of paragraphs raving about certain dishes, fantastic customer service and wanting to spend the rest of your dining life sitting at one of these tables as the master chef delivers delicious dish after delicious dish. Sadly, this review won’t be any different. It’s all positive, glowing and filled with exclamation marks (in our minds at least). This review, however, isn’t entirely the same as it’s told from the perspective of the chef’s table at Scarpetta. Oh yes, we watched as the head chef and his team prepared an outstanding tasting menu from bread basket to macarons.
It was fascinating watching as the chef Freddy Vargas worked with his specialists in the kitchen. There was a person for sauces, someone for meats, another chef for desserts and so forth and so on. Each and every person played a role in making guests’ taste buds dance. It was as if we were watching an orchestra perform. It was truly beautiful and made us all appreciate our Scarpetta experience that much more.
The bread basket was the first “dish” to be delivered, and yes it is a dish. This bread basket is, in fact, award winning for Scarpetta. That might have something to do with the fact that it’s not your average sliced bread. This bread basket contains focaccia, crusty warm bread and the most amazing Stromboli (mozzarella, salami, basil and tomatoes) you’ve ever experienced. And to top it off, you have a selection of dips that make this basket a meal in itself. You have to go with friends or you’ll eat the whole bread basket yourself and regret every second as you struggle to finish your main course.
We could take you through each and every selection of our meal at Scarpetta but that would take forever. We sat there for hours sampling and all I can truly say is that each and every bite felt like a journey to pure paradise. From the warm polenta to the famous spaghetti, the succulent duck breast to the short rib & bone marrow ravioli, this was a meal for which the hashtag “foodporn” was created.
Again, I must emphasis the fact that while the food was second to none, it was truly the customer service that completed this package. Our waiter was friendly, conversational and completely appropriate with timing. And the chef, well, he was charm personified. He came over regularly and asked how we were enjoying our meal and if there was anything special he could throw our way. It truly felt this kitchen would offer the moon on a platter if it were humanly possible to make that happen.
Here’s a look at the delicious plates set in front of us (apologies as the SLR didn’t fit in the clutch carried for the evening… regretting that up and down at this point).
Montage Beverly Hills
225 North Canyon Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
+1 310 860 7970
