There's no wine list at Scarpetta

 31 August 2023

 

SCARPETTA

85 Roodebloem Road, Woodstock, Cape Town

 

There I am, at around 19h00 on a Thursday evening, rummaging in the Salisbury’s wine fridge for beer to accompany my Italian supper.  Not what I’d expected to be doing on a Thursday night in Roodebloem Road in Woodstock. It‘s a test of character, psychological flexibility and resilience to hear that your restaurant has no liquor licence only once you’ve comfortably settled in at your table and are ready to order comestibles and drinks. 

 

The proprietor referred us to the corner store, i.e.  Salisbury’s Deli & Wine. What? Is this Europe?

 

The wife, two friends and I were at Scarpetta for some serious pasta feasting. Our companions were wise to the situation and brought wine but didn’t warn us.  I don’t drink wine. 

 

The guy and I trundled down to Salisbury’s and got some beer. There was at least one other patron from Scarpetta’s there, no doubt also caught by surprise. On our return, the server dropped a bottle opener at the table. I don’t recall beer glasses being offered and the women drank their wine from water glasses. 

 

At least the restaurant wasn’t going to charge us extortionately for liquor.

 

Scarpetta trades in a refurbished old house, hence an interior that walks that fine line between cosy and cramped. 

 

When it’s a full house, like tonight (and I suppose this wasn’t a unique situation), the exhilarated noise of a house full of happy diners is a challenge. We were sat in a corner, with a large group behind us, and eventually this meant that we didn’t  so much  chat  as shout, with the resultant strain on the throat. When the wife and I got home, I sucked an Andolec lozenges for relief.

 

There was a basic menu on a blackboard and the proprietor came around to expound on what else was available, given the approach of fresh and seasonal cooking.  It was a good thing that we’d come early and before the joint was at its capacity, otherwise it would’ve been a challenge to grasp the oral menu aurally. As it was, there was so much of it and the patter was so rapid that one was slightly befuddled and had no time to ruminate on your choice, as is the case with a menu card.

 

Each dish is tantalisingly described but prices languish in obscurity until the handwritten bill is presented.  

 

The wife’s starter was a calamari dish (R155), 

mine was asparagus, allegedly wrapped in bacon (R150), there was an artichoke dish (R175) and a bourata (R175).

 

The asparagus was cooked and still crisp but was hardly wrapped in bacon and merely tied with a bacon ribbon and the generous amount of sauce was nice enough with no big punch of flavour.

 

The wife thought that her calamari sounded better described than when tasted.  The best she could do for it, was that it was okay.

 

The artichoke starter was excellent and, though the bourata was good, it was just this lump of soft cheese on greens; hardly the stuff of culinary dreams.

 

My main course was the Ricotta and spinach gnocchi with  a pea and leek sauce (R165); the wife and the other guy  had amatriciana, cured pork cheek with linguine (R195)

, and his wife had creamy 7 mushrooms on linguine (R165). 

Scarpetta offers any shape of pasta you can think of, as long as it’s linguine.

 

When I saw the bill, the starters were disproportionately expensive compared to the main course dishes. 

 

The gnocchi was superb and melted in the mouth but I’d say the sauce, though plentiful, was a tad too subtle for my taste. Does nobody ever serve gnocchi with basil pesto anymore?  Scarpetta’s alternative is a ragu but that doesn’t work as well with gnocchi for me.

 

There was so much linguine on the table that the others offered me the substantial remnants of their dishes, meaning I could taste all of it and also effectively had roughly three main courses.

 

Apparently, the best move was to combine the mushroom pasta with the meat pasta but I kept them separate to evaluate each one on its own merits.

 

The deeply flavourful and spicy amatriciana was by far the boldest, most viscerally satisfying, flavour of the evening. The mushroom sauce was okay if you fancy a variety of complementary mushroom flavours but it’s not my favourite flavour story for pasta and I don’t like cream sauces.

 

The wife and the other guy had the chocolate torte dessert (R75) and I had the tiramisu (R85). The third party is not a dessert person.

 

The chocolate torte was exceptionally good; the wife said it was the best dessert she’d eaten in forever. it was so delectable she forgot to take the mandatory photograph. The tiramisu was meh.

 

The two women finished two bottles of wine and us guys drank five beers between us.

 

The bill came to R1645,00 before tip.

 

Afterwards, the question was, would we return to Scarpetta?   My answer is yes, if there’s an evening when it’s quieter, but I’ll stick to a main course and avoid the tiramisu, if it’s still an option.  And next time, I’ll know to bring my camping cooler bag with a couple of six packs.