NEW YORK/DINING: SOTTO SOPRA

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SOTTO SOPRA

 

While in the Hamptons recently, I asked around to see what the one new restaurant I couldn’t miss was. The people in the know told me to try out Sotto Sopra in nearby Amagansett. So my friends and I headed over there on a Friday night, grateful that we had reservations because the place was packed!

Photo by Lauren Bennett.

Photo by Lauren Bennett.

Sotto, as the natives shorten it to, has the bar scene (with a “good vibe,” according to Scott) up front, which leads to an inside-outside dining area that features a warm interior and popular back garden. I never like to eat outside on the East Coast, but only a few of you might guess why. Do you want a moment to think about it? Okay, here’s the answer—I hate my hair getting even frizzier than it already does in New York summers! So I was more than content to dine inside. It was the perfect location between the bar and the garden. The whole place was loud and bustling, but not annoying at all, as many a hot spot tends to be.

Lauren, Scott, and I had a great time that night. What could be better than delicious food, excellent drinks, pleasant service, and getting to sit with the amiable owner, Rose, for part of the night? Not much that I can think of. (Especially after the David Lynch-ian experience I had getting to town that day. That story should be coming up later on this week, so you might want to check back for it, if not for the schadenfreude then for the cautionary tale that it is.)

Scott and Rose seemed to be really enjoying their cocktails mixed by bartender Rob, (who had recently worked in LA, so perhaps we can claim credit for his skills,) while Lauren said of her drink, “Powerful and tasty tequila.” I don’t imbibe, so I just couldn’t wait to get to their food! (When you read the above-mentioned harrowing experience getting there, you’ll understand why I was extra happy to lay my eyes on their excellent menu. And happier still to lay my teeth and tongue on their excellent fare!)

DSC02905We started off with several appetizers, one more appealing than the next. We basically all agreed on the deliciousness of the dishes, (including having the same favorites,) so I’ll just give you the highlights. Not on the written menu though, is the Seafood Tower. It consists of lobster, shrimp, and crab meat, and you can order it for as many people as you want, including just for yourself. Lauren said it was “perfectly fresh and simply delish!”

Everyone when nuts over the two pizzas we tried. I was more into the basic Margherita, but my pals couldn’t stop raving about the Picante, which was topped with pepperoni, spicy sausage, and ricotta cheese–a “brilliant combination” according to Lauren. They were good-sized pizzas, too.

DSC02926There was one dish we all fought over–the Rigatoni Toscana. To a person, we each declared it to be the best pasta we’ve ever had in our entire lives! The Toscana is rigatoni with roasted tomato sauce, sausage, and broccoli rabe, and it’s about one million times more delicious than it even sounds. If you trust me on just one dish this whole year, please make it this one. (We had some left over because we always try to take just a few bites of each dish when reviewing, so we can sample as many as possible. The next day, we were each trying to be polite to each other as to who could go ahead and finish the pasta. I was dying for it, but I was staying with them and I wanted to be a good guest, so I left it for Scott; even though I’m always grateful to that couple, I’ve been regretting that decision ever since! I wish we had something comparable to this pasta in Los Angeles.)

The winner in the main dish category turned out to be my Tournedos de Manzo, which is two petite beef filets in a red wine shallot sauce served with sautéed mushrooms and chopped potatoes. I swear, I’ve never seen Lauren enjoy eating meat, but she couldn’t stop going to town on this one. I almost had to wrest it out of her eager hands! She said it “cut like butta, and the sauce was amazing.”

Also delicious, with a gorgeous presentation, was the double thick cut Veal Porterhouse chop, which Scott loved. I’m a goon who needs my veal chops well done, so I didn’t get to try any of this rare-ish one, but we brought part of it home to my young foodie pal, Taylor, who said it was “incredibly juicy and damn good!”

Clockwise from top: asparagus, sweet corn, hash browns, sage and mustard mash potatoes. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Clockwise from top: asparagus, sweet corn, hash browns, sage and mustard mash potatoes. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Between the three of us at dinner that night, we wanted to order all six generous sides. But we settled on only the carb ones (of course we did, because I did the ordering,) and I swear, I would’ve been happy with eating just those. They were all so delicious! [Note: It turns out, Lauren said almost the same thing, (“So delicious! I could have made a meal out of just these,”) after I had already written this! Great minds…]

The sweet corn was fresh off the cob and pan roasted. Yum! Scott and Lauren were gaga for the “awesome” sage and mustard mash potatoes. But the absolute most delicious one, that I really didn’t want to share with anybody else but because I’m such a nice girl I did, was the hash browns. They’re served kind-of like they are at Bobby Van’s in the city–in the shape of a giant potato cake–and they’re pan-roasted with onions, oregano, and thyme. OMG! I wish I had some of them right now. As a matter of fact, if there was ever an argument for me to move to the Hamptons, it would be for these potatoes and the afore-mentioned pasta!

I realized later that I feel a tad bad that we never got the chance to laud Executive Chef, Josh Savi, in person that night, but at least we got to thank the wonderful team of servers, whom Scott said were “incredibly attentive and professional.” I’m not even sure what each one’s specific job was, (outside of Jessie, who I’m pretty confident was our main waitress,) but I can sure tell you a lot about their personal lives! (Okay, I think I have now officially turned into my mother.) It made the whole dining experience more of a social situation with a bunch of nice people, and that’s exactly the way I like it to be. The whole waitstaff was efficient, nice, cute, and they all seemed genuinely happy to be working there. That’s got to be a reflection on Rose and her partners, so props to them for that.

The chocolate chunk ice cream. Photo by Karen Salkin.

The chocolate chunk ice cream. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Wait—I almost forgot dessert! The shock is that I was actually too full for any, and though I rarely see Lauren partake of sugar, we decided to get the chocolate chunk gelato. I didn’t have even a normal-sized spoonful, but Lauren went to town on it! She said it was a “chocolate lover’s treasure” with “big hidden chunks of chocolate.” And it was topped off with the “perfect berry explosion.” (Maybe she should try dessert more often, since it brings out the poet in her. But I guess they’d all have to be as good as this one was for that to take place.)

Obviously, I don’t expect anyone to order as much as we did, so I hope our “research” will help you with your choices. But judging by all the food we tasted, I’d expect that everything on the menu would be excellent. I don’t think you can go wrong at Sotto Sopra. And if you’re in the neighborhood anyway, I recommend you at least stop in at the bar and have a drink and the pasta or a pizza. You know it’s the first place I’ll be headed to when I next return to the Hamptons!

231 Main Street   Amagansett, New York   631-267-3695   www.sottosoprahamptons.com

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