Scarpetta has changed…

Scarpetta used to be one of my favorite Italian restaurants in Vegas. Before moving to Vegas, on every trip to Sin City, I would try to eat there. I loved the stromboli (bread with salami, and cheese baked into it), the polenta, the duck ravioli, and of course, Scott Conant’s famous spaghetti.

I have not been in years and decided to have dinner there last night. Upon arrival, I noticed that the place had not changed much, and it didn’t need to. It still looks modern and elegant. I had a negroni at the bar while waiting for my table, and the taste of the drink brought back fond memories of past Scarpetta experiences.

I should note that the founder/chef Scott Conant is no longer involved with Scarpetta, and according to Gemini, he has not been involved in the Vegas location since 2017. How is the place now? Lets see….

The first thing that hit the table was a bread basket. I forgot how wonderful this was and totally forgot about the stromboli. In our basket, we only got one piece so I asked for more which they brought. These were still just as good as I remember them to be.

For our appetizer, we had the calamari. I didn’t take a pic. It was pretty good, but nothing out of this world. The tomato sauce provided paired especially well. For pastas, I went with my old school favorites: duck foie ravioli and the famous tomato basil spaghetti.

Lets start with the raviloi. The marsala reduction and the filing were still quite tasty BUT if I remember correctly, they used to pour a fancy very aged balsamic on top to finish the dish tableside. They no longer do this. It could of been more al dente too. Overall, not too bad though not outstanding like in the past.

Where the place has really changed is the spaghetti. This spaghetti was so good, I would place it in my top 10 things I’ve ever eaten. In fact, I did a lot of research and learned how to make it myself, as close to the original as possible, and even served a version on a menu for a food business I had. The version they served yesterday has changed significantly.

1. It used to be served in a very reverent manner, with a glass cover lifted tableside. This is no longer the case
2. It used to be plated perfectly swirled in the middle of a bowl, with fresh basil showing and bright red fresh tomato sauce. I could no longer see the fresh basil and the sauce has a more muted color
3. Its no longer perfectly al dente
4. The taste reminded us of spaghetti-o’s. Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing. I happen to like the taste of spaghetti-o’s as they remind me of childhood BUT this is not what I was expecting with this dish and I miss the way it was served before

For our main, we ordered the osso buco with a side of the creamy truffle polenta. This polenta made me fall in love with polenta and I also learned to make it and put it on a menu for a food business I used to have. I note that we took these to go and ate them for lunch the next day because we were too full after the pasta. Therefore, I cannot comment on the polenta as much not the osso buco. I will note that both tasted really yummy for lunch. My only disappointment with the osso buco would be the small, microscopic bone marrow.

For dessert, bomboloni which were ok. Overall, service was good, but it was so busy that the pace was very slow between dishes. I was having a great time so it wasn’t so noticeable, AND our server made up for it my giving us free drinks (the wine I was drinking wasn’t cheap by the way so thanks to our server) AND keeping us always updated. The atmosphere is still really good though in the 10+ years I have been going, people have started dressing more casual. The food ranged from very good to ok. Would I go back? Probably not. The food wasn’t terrible, but it just wasn’t like it used to be. Its still a good place, but there is so much competition now in the Italian space, that there are better options like Mother Wolf or Carbone Riviera. If I could not get in those places, and wanted to be on the strip, I may consider Scarpetta again. That’s the same advice I would give to someone who asked me too. Its not bad, its just that I know how amazing it USED to be.

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