Martiniboys

Scott Conant's Scarpetta Takes on Toronto

Don Ellis, martiniboys.com - July 28,2010

It lacks the nimbleness of Gus Giazitzidis’ and Peter Tsebelis’ restaurant Buca or the Jungian-carnival bravado of Claudio Aprile's Origin or the sunny, clean lines and stylized flow of Paul Boehmer's pseudo eponymous Böhmer - or, for that matter, the off-kilter intensity of Scott Conant’s own original Scarpetta in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. But, to be sure, Toronto’s Scarpetta - within the Thompson Toronto Hotel - is the restaurant opening of the summer, arriving just in time to hold back the flow of sputum that's been sliming the local dining scene of late.

While Toronto’s print media and various foodie blogs have been enjoying a haughty shitstorm over Scarpetta’s inevitable opening last Thursday evening, that opening failed to materialize (with full reservation book of anxious diners, no doubt). Sadly, the restaurant didn’t even open during the (otherwise predicted) weekend. Ouch! After a week of gas line issues - and various other kitchen-related glitches - Scarpetta’s alluring doors open Monday, August 2. If you’re still with me and consider yourself something of a foodie, a visit to Scarpetta will become mandatory in your foodie future.

The monstrous space that contains the restaurant is overwhelming, full of meaty ideas and eye-popping aesthetics, yet much like the other Scarpetta locations, the go-for-broke ambition is set to disorientate as much as stimulate. There were times when Scarpetta Toronto could have and maybe it all should have collapsed under its own weight, buried beneath Scott Conant’s “love letter to Toronto”. But aside from his ‘please-love-me-Toronto’ letter, Chef Conant - has brought an ambitious entry to the Toronto restaurant scene.

The Toronto version of Scarpetta makes its mark with an ambitious space that is at once gorgeous and sweeping effortlessly (and with a level of almost arrogant audacity), but the reality that jostles the reverie is that, as truly engaging as the restaurant is, Scarpetta’s emotions beat with a much fainter pulse. Carefully selected furniture and fabric is clearly an essential part of the world of Scarpetta. NYC design firm Studio Gaia has utilized fabrics of varying weight and shades of brown, plus a blending of classic and modernistic styles to establish a dark moody setting to differentiate hotel and restaurant in slight, but distinguishable ways. Curve-y serpentine banquettes own the centre aisle of the room, while table-for-two banquette seating is recessed into one wall. A floor-to-ceiling glass wall provides full frontal exposure from the street. Huge raw-bulb chandeliers hang from overhead, while an LED-emblazoned chilled wine wall showcases labels well above your pay level.

Conant’s menu lists off much the same Italian-inspired fare as the New York location, but there are entries that are distinctive to Toronto’s Scarpetta. ( Here’s the full menu.) While we all had fun with Conant worming his way into our consciousness with a love letter to Toronto that explains how lucky we all are to have a real Miami/NYC restaurateur amongst us, Scarpetta is a triumph of cerebral dining.

Scarpetta is slated to open Monday, August 2nd.