Beverly Hills, CA 90210
What do the Inception Blu-ray DVD, a lower level seat to a Clippers' game and spaghetti have in common? Each cost just about $24. Now, $24 seems like a reasonable price for the first two. But, for spaghetti, what's arguable the simplest of Italian dishes, that seems a bit excessive. Now, I tend to subscribe to the general theories of free markets, and would assume that there must be good reason for a spaghetti to cost $24. And having just recently read about the $24 spaghetti at Scarpetta, we had to see for ourselves what type of market factors were involved in the pricing of this dish.
The restaurant is located inside the Montage - Beverly Hills. The interior sports dim lighting with high ceilings and seats about 70. The decor is said to be fashioned after "Old Hollywood" and you do get a little sense of that eating there.
1. creamy polenta, fricassee of truffled mushrooms - We've been having a run of really good polentas recently. Rich and creamy, it served as the perfect foundation for the aromatic mushrooms. Definitely worth ordering again.
2. beef tartare - Subtle flavors from this easily masticated meat. Hints of beefiness with the olive oil combined to form a fine dish, though nothing extraordinary.
3. spaghetti, tomato, basil - The first pasta dish. The dish that we'd made this trip for. The portion was slightly larger than a baseball, which doesn't amount to much when split amongst a party of six. The first thing you notice is the aroma of the basil. Distinct, fresh and herbacious. The first bite yielded a pasta cooked perfectly al-dente. A distinct "bounce" to every bite. The tomato sauce was very creamy, helping to hold the pasta together and to tender the sweetness and acidity of the fruit. Although a very tasty bite of pasta, I'm not sure if it was worth $24, although there were no regrets in giving it a try.
4. black cod, carmelized fennel, concentrated tomatoes - This fatty, flakey white fish rarely fails to satisfy. With proper execution it is nearly a fail-proof protein. This version met that standard and improved upon it with the crackling crispy outer skin and bold tomato flavors.
5. ash-spiced venison loin, braised radicchio, smoked polenta dumplings - Not yummy. The venison was well cooked, yielding well to eat bite but the flavors were not appealing. The ash-spice made the meat taste, well, ash-y. Bitter, smoked ash. Again, not yummy. The one saving grace was the smoked polenta dumplings. Those things deserved to be a dish of their own. Perhaps in some form of an appetizer. Scarpetta really knows what they're doing with their polenta.
1. creamy polenta, fricassee of truffled mushrooms - We've been having a run of really good polentas recently. Rich and creamy, it served as the perfect foundation for the aromatic mushrooms. Definitely worth ordering again.
2. beef tartare - Subtle flavors from this easily masticated meat. Hints of beefiness with the olive oil combined to form a fine dish, though nothing extraordinary.
3. spaghetti, tomato, basil - The first pasta dish. The dish that we'd made this trip for. The portion was slightly larger than a baseball, which doesn't amount to much when split amongst a party of six. The first thing you notice is the aroma of the basil. Distinct, fresh and herbacious. The first bite yielded a pasta cooked perfectly al-dente. A distinct "bounce" to every bite. The tomato sauce was very creamy, helping to hold the pasta together and to tender the sweetness and acidity of the fruit. Although a very tasty bite of pasta, I'm not sure if it was worth $24, although there were no regrets in giving it a try.
4. black cod, carmelized fennel, concentrated tomatoes - This fatty, flakey white fish rarely fails to satisfy. With proper execution it is nearly a fail-proof protein. This version met that standard and improved upon it with the crackling crispy outer skin and bold tomato flavors.
5. ash-spiced venison loin, braised radicchio, smoked polenta dumplings - Not yummy. The venison was well cooked, yielding well to eat bite but the flavors were not appealing. The ash-spice made the meat taste, well, ash-y. Bitter, smoked ash. Again, not yummy. The one saving grace was the smoked polenta dumplings. Those things deserved to be a dish of their own. Perhaps in some form of an appetizer. Scarpetta really knows what they're doing with their polenta.
Scarpetta did and excellent job with their pastas and polenta. Their red meat proteins leave a lot to be desired, though. The service was very attentive and non-intrusive. A very positive experience overall.
I don't recall who won the last Clippers game I attended or some of the finer plot points of Inception, but I will not quickly forget the experience of tasting a $24 spaghetti.