The Bulgari Hotel is one of the new wave of ultra-luxury hotels in London, but unlike some others, it is as discreet as it is elegant. It also has a commitment to the Italian heritage of the brand, as we discovered when taking the most spectacular afternoon tea there. But it does not shout about its presence, and the same has flowed through into the restaurant, which is an offshoot of the excellent Manhattan Italian-American restaurant Scarpetta.
The Bulgari and Sette are only a few moment’s walk from Knightsbridge station, around the corner from Zuma. It has its own private entrance on a small side street, but you can also enter through the elegant lobby and Bulgari Lounge, first to the bar area and then through to the restaurant proper.
The room itself is quite old-school: muted tones, beautiful rectangular chandelier-style punctuating the ceiling, a wine alcove at the rear and generously sized and spaced tables that will allow for a plutocrat to discuss business in perfect privacy. We had one of the corner booth tables which afforded a panoramic view across the restaurant in the glow of evening candlelight.
Now an Italian-American restaurant is not going to mess up cocktails and the martinis – one vesper and my own pure, extremely dry and with a twist were pretty much perfect. Score one to Sette.
The very friendly and disarmingly old school staff gave the place another air of the elegance of yesteryear. They reminded me of those grand old-school Italian hotels where the click of heel on marble and the flash of a velvet jacket was a signal that you could relax into elegance. A bit like the San Domenico Palace in Taormina used to be before some fool decided that everything had to be made over into the tedious international language of taste(lessness) and made it into a pastiche art deco monstrosity.
I digress, but Sette is that sort of place. It’s old school, and somewhere you can let the mind wander. They take time here and do things right, and I suspect that’s just fine with the clientele who are rich enough never to need to be in a hurry.
Which does however illustrate what I don’t think it is, and that’s an Italian American restaurant. Really it’s an absolutely top-end Italian restaurant, and that’s a different thing. The food tells the story. To start I had a quite perfect trio of crudo: salmon, yellowtail tuna and sea bass. All with suitable spices and other flavour-enhancing ingredients, but nothing to distract from a superbly fresh offering of delicious raw fish. I could eat this all day and every day.
My guest had the one miss of the meal, a beef tartare with black truffle. He’s a bit of a tartare nut and this was his fourth of the week. The beef was high quality, the black truffle generous, but the whole dish was strangely unseasoned. A little thing, but a very odd omission and a, if deliberate, a real mistake.
Main courses were sublime. I had Risotto Milanese with Ossobuco. This is as classic an Italian dish as it gets, and they nailed it. Thick with wine and cheese the arborio rice was just at the al dente point and a generous helping of saffron allowed it to light up the table. The ossobuco itself had been carved and dressed before serving and was presented as a mound of succulent perfect meat in the middle of the plate. The trouble is I’m now going to want ossobuco always served this way, and I know that’s not happening.
It was also an example of what I mean when I say Italian not Italian- American. This dish was more modest in size, more beautiful and delicate than what I was used to in New York. That’s not a criticism of either: I’m as much a fan of spaghetti and meatballs as the next overweight middle aged guy. But I think this was more proper high-end Italian: more restrained in size, more delineated in flavour.
My guest’s main course perhaps bridged the two traditions, a Lobster Taglioloni with acquapazza, fresno chili, tomato, spicy basil breadcrumbs. A great dish, generous with the crustacean meat and full of flavour. Finally, I confess I am not really a puddings person. I’d rather double up on the starters any day of the week. But here, they are just too good. If you come here and don’t try the Cassata Siciliana you are a fool. Tart and creamy in one. Epic, epic, epic. As was the cheesecake with berries, and that was properly Italian American dish.
Now the inevitable caution that this place is not cheap. Not stupidly expensive – not even remotely so as compared to a lot of the competition – but it is an Italian (-American) restaurant in Knightsbridge. Make a matching financial plan. As a point of reference, most of the pasta dishes were priced below £30 a dish, but the Lobster Tagliolini is £44. The crudo starters are £22 each or £28 for the trio that I ordered. Get into Tomahawk steaks or Dover sole and you are heading north in a hurry. But the quality here does merit the pricing.
They also have very reasonable and sensible lunch and early dinner set menus with the former at £42 for three courses and the latter £50 for the same with a glass of wine. And in the current world of restaurant pricing that’s pretty damn good for food of this quality.
And if it’s all out Italian-American you want then their New York Brunch served at weekends is made for you, with another set menu starting from £49 for two courses. Signature dishes include American Pancakes, Crispy Chicken and Waffle and the Bagel Tower to share. For not much more you can make it bottomless – £60 each.
So overall, this is somewhere to have in your black book – an elegant, discreet, high end and most definitely Italian restaurant.
Sette, 4 Knightsbridge Green, London, UK SW1X 7QA – 020 7151 1025
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