One Star for Park Slope's Sette Enoteca
Frank Bruni gives a largely positive review of Sette Enoteca, the Park Slope italian restaurant. Citing some unevenness, Bruni clearly thinks the young restaurant in on the right track: Sette aspires to sophistication and wants to telegraph that it’s in touch with the latest trends and on the hunt for distinctive ingredients. The care with…
Frank Bruni gives a largely positive review of Sette Enoteca, the Park Slope italian restaurant. Citing some unevenness, Bruni clearly thinks the young restaurant in on the right track:
Sette aspires to sophistication and wants to telegraph that it’s in touch with the latest trends and on the hunt for distinctive ingredients. The care with which its menu and best dishes are put together underscores the aim of an increasing number of restaurateurs in Park Slope, which seems to be especially fertile soil for Italian cooking. They shoot for more than just excellent neighborhood restaurants. They shoot for excellent restaurants, period. But Sette isn’t too full of itself. It doesn’t let its ambitions trump the relaxed atmosphere in its attractively dark, oppressively loud dining room. Nor does it let those ambitions distract it from trying to win diners’ hearts in direct, unpretentious ways.
How have other people’s experiences stacked up?
Road of Good Intentions [NY Times]
Although I wish I had tried more dishes at Sette, I largely agree with Bruni’s assessment. http://eatingforbrooklyn.blogspot.com/2005/08/sette-stands-out-on-7th-ave.html
Though, I have to say there is a reason why restaurants use “baby” vegetables. It’s not really trendy. It’s because baby or smaller vegetables have a sweeter, more intense flavor espcecially zucchini, eggplant and such.
I have also found the servers indifferent and the food quality uneven. Sometimes the food is delish; but most of it is really bland. Maybe the cook is afraid to use spices? And here’s what really irks me: the “free” mimosas with brunch taste like watery OJ. Come on people! Charge for it if you need to, but don’t water down the liquor!!
Yes, but you left out the bad part:
“But Sette had a few too many letdowns…Most of the pasta dishes lacked a spark of some kind. Some of them were overcooked. And some of them and some of the main courses needed salt… Servers could be counted on for a warm greeting at the start and a warm goodbye at the end, but they could not be counted on to circle back to the table regularly…”
My experience echos his. Decent place, decent food, friendly service BUT unremarkable, missing some consistency from the kitchen, and service can be spotty.