IF Scarpetta lacks the luxury of L’Impero and Alto, it sure beats Gin Lane, its ill-fated predecessor at 355 W. 14th St.
Many dishes read – and taste – much as they did when I first had them at L’Impero in 2002. Here are Conant’s famed mushroom fricassee poured over creamy, tongue-tantalizing polenta and moist-roasted baby goat, better than I remember them. Fear not the Teutonic-tinted items at Alto that Conant eventually scrapped – no cockscombs or schupfnudeln.
Conant admits keeping “dishes that sold the best,” like simple but perfect spaghetti and basil. The kitchen can fry with the best of them in greaseless mozzarella in carozza and “crispy” fritto misto that, for once, actually is.
The breakthrough new dish is boneless braised veal shank atop saffron-parmigiano orzo and doused in marrow sauce – osso buco without the osso. But tuna “susci,” a craftily assembled, truffle-heavy lift from Conant’s last days at Alto, didn’t work then – or now.
Fennel and tomatoes can’t rescue black cod from overworked mediocrity. And dreamy pasta like meat- and fonduta-stuffed agnolotti arrives less than hot. It’s reassuring to see Conant in the house, but his firm hand doesn’t always show up on the plate. It’s great having him back, but a little more diligence, please.