Sette Osteria

[mnebergall]

Heather: one of your kids is getting more face time on eGullet than the other. The other demands equal time.

The rest of you, we need to get cracking planning the next event. I seem to recall that Hillvalley volunteered.

[JPW]

Let me add my kudos to Jenny for organizing. An especially sweet touch was the name/screen name cheat sheet.

Mrs. JPW and I had a great time meeting everyone. Next time, I'll have to make more of an effort to get to talk to the people at the other side of the table.

The salume and cheese plates were excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed my pizza - not the best I've ever had, but more than adequate. The only reason I didn't finish it was that I had too much of Mrs. JPW's very good arugula salad and pasta.

DC Mark and Al_Dente excellent job on picking out some fabulous reds at good prices.

I actually owe everyone from my end of the table $4 as I later realized that I miscalculated the tab. Of course, I blame the wine and food for making my brain a little slow at the end of the meal.

I like the space of Sette, although I would not want to be seated at one of the tables right next to the bar. The outdoor space should be good once it gets nicer out. I thought that the waitors did a very good job, especially given the unruly crowd of foodies they had to deal with.

See you all soon.

[babka]

little to say but Thank You!

[hannnah]

It was definitely a lot of fun, and good seeing everyone.

[bilrus]

Definitely fun and good food to boot. I was dreaming about cured meats last night.

[JPW]

Definitely fun and good food to boot. I was dreaming about cured meats last night.

MMMmmmmmmmmm, Pork!

Insert drooling noises here.

[mdt]

Thanks for organizing Jenny. Looking forward to future events.

[DCMark]

Let me add a big thanks to Jenny and everyone who came. That was lots of fun.

No one has talked about the food so I will. It was good but not great. The restaurant is still getting its legs I would say and the main issue it will have over time is that its too popular! The place was packed on a rainy and cold Wednesday night.

Vino:

The wines by the glass were fine but nothing stood out to me. I sampled a glass of the Vermiglio, Costanti and then the Piedirosso dei campi flegrei, Grotta del Sole. Both lacking a bit in the taste department but I usually do not drink wine at the bar. Perhaps the lack of food hurt the wines.

For dinner, the west side of the table (cool kids) had two bottles of Nero D`Avola, Santa Anastasia. I was introduced to this grape in Positano last year and it did not dissapoint last night. Perfect with the meat and cheese plate, especially the gorgonzolla. Then Mike (Al Dente) ordered our third bottle which was excellent. Unfortunately I do not know the name.

Nutrizione:

The west side of the table had the italian meat plate with a cheese plate. The prosciutto was good and raves were heard about the gorgonzolla and pecorino. Funny note: the wait staff was not too up on the cheese selections, calling the gorg. ...'that blue cheese stuff...'

My wife Delphine had Gatto’ di Patate app which was a potato cake with grana cheese and roasted red peppers on the side. Excellent and the bottom was nicely burned and crispy. I had the fried calamari which was extremely tender but a bit salty. My biggest complaint with the food was too much salt.

For main courses I had the quatre formaggio pizza with addition of proscuitto. Good pizza (again too salty) which will give Pizzaeria Paradiso a run for its money. Delphine had the Paccheri Alla Genovese which was rigatoni with meat sauce. She seemed to like it and it was nicely al dente.

Note to the field: Do not take the internet menu word for word. Both the pasta and dessert (canelloni) I was planning to order were not on the menu anymore and there was no suggestion by the waiter that the kitchen could make them for me

Dessert:

Both Delphine and I had the mini doughnuts with home-made nutella. The doughnuts are not going to give Krispy Kreme a run for their money but the nutella was fabulous. I was licking my plate if anyone noticed.

All in all a great evening made so by the lovely company. Nice to meet everyone. It sounds like we have some good cooks in the crowd so perhaps a future meetup could involve home cooking?

Other Mark: forgot all about the cigars, did you end up smoking them?

[mnebergall]

Other Mark: forgot all about the cigars, did you end up smoking them?

No, they do not allow cigar smoking at Sette. Perhaps the next event will be outside and it will not be an issue. We can put all of the cigar smokers at the downwind end of the table so as not to offend (or at least offend less).

Edited to add: And, we should look into the feability of an eGDC shooting team. The food angle is that increased accuracy at the target range translates into more game on the table come hunt'in season.

Edited April 1, 2004 by mnebergall (log)

[JennyUptown]

Agreed - my gnocchi was very salty. It came with grated parmesan on top (they went a little crazy with it actually) which was part of the saltiness.

[bilrus]

I didn't really notice any over salting, but I have been on a salty kick lately.

Agreed that the donuts were a little heavy, one more so than the other two on my plate. My pizza was very good. I had the one with prosciutto and arugala. An interesting mix, basically a salad on top of the pizza, but the light lemony vinagrette worked well with the rich meat. And the crust was nicely crisp throught unlike the centers of the pizzas at Matchbox, for example. I thought it was on a par with Paradiso, though not quite as good as Two Amys.

And, if you haven't gathered from earlier posts I loved the meats and cheeses. The only miss on the plate for me was the unidentified soft cheese that was little bland. But the "blue cheese stuff" and the pecorino were very good, served with a nice crusty grilled bread.

I know little about wines, but both choices worked for me and I am going to be on the lookout for them in the future.

I'm loking forward to trying one of the pastas which looked good from a distance. I'll be back.

Edited April 1, 2004 by bilrus (log)

[Al_Dente]

Then Mike (Al Dente) ordered our third bottle which was excellent. Unfortunately I do not know the name.

Sangiovese, Peperino, Terruzzi & Puthod ‘01. I think I could eat that meat and cheese plate every night. Gorgonzola Dolce... Agreed that the waitstaff didn't know the cheeses-- didn't they also say the soft cheese with the soft rind was buffalo mozz? I loved the pizza I had with escarole, capers, and anchovies.

It was a pleasure meeting everyone. Hope we can do it again soon.

[cjsadler]

Down at the east end of the table we drank a couple bottles of Promessa Rosso Salento, which I really like. Several places around town carry it, including Whole Foods. For about $10 a bottle it's a steal, as is the same producer's Amano Primitivo. They're made by a guy from California who moved to Apulia to make wine.

Great meeting everyone.

Edited April 1, 2004 by cjsadler (log)

[eunny jang]

I was so sorry I missed this. Sounds like a great time.

I live right around the corner from Sette - will definitely check it out stat.

[iamthestretch]

I'm sorry too. One quick question, since it sounds like you guys got through more than a few pies, did anyone notice a slight soupiness to the pizza? The first few I had there were good, but the last two have had a distinct pooling of moisture (and not just from a heavy hand on the olive oil), leading to some unwelcome sogginess. I doubt it's the execution that's at fault as they snitched 2 Amys chef and day pizza cook. Perhaps a different batch of mozzarella that's weeping out more in the oven? And, yes, I know -- picky, picky, picky!

[JennyUptown]

People photos...

cjsadler, bilrus, hannnah

Mr. and Mrs. DCMark (Delphine)

mdt, edemuth, Busboy, mnebergall, DCMark (and Mrs. DCMark), Al_Dente

Mr. and Mrs. JPW (Leigh; Peanut not shown)

[JennyUptown]

Food photos...

Meat and other good stuff. Love that pork!

Salumi, insalata caprese. Great bufala mozzarella.

Delphine (Mrs. DCMark)'s pasta.

mnebergall's skirt steak with spinach and the smallest potatoes he'd ever seen.

I don't have dessert photos, but I think hillvalley might.

Thanks for coming everyone. I had fun!

[hillvalley]

I wasn't as good as Jenny about documenting my photos, so you all have to label your own dinner

Calamari with spicy tomato sauce

Cheese plate

pasta

pizza

meatball pizza

unbelievable nuttela filled donuts (which I am now craving)

[hillvalley]

I'm sorry too. One quick question, since it sounds like you guys got through more than a few pies, did anyone notice a slight soupiness to the pizza? The first few I had there were good, but the last two have had a distinct pooling of moisture (and not just from a heavy hand on the olive oil), leading to some unwelcome sogginess. I doubt it's the execution that's at fault as they snitched 2 Amys chef and day pizza cook. Perhaps a different batch of mozzarella that's weeping out more in the oven? And, yes, I know -- picky, picky, picky!

Yes!!! I had the arugula procuitto pizza and except for the burnt parts on the crust, the whole thing was floppy. The crust was way to thin. Tasted good but still disappointing.

It also does not reheat well at all

[JPW]

I'm sorry too. One quick question, since it sounds like you guys got through more than a few pies, did anyone notice a slight soupiness to the pizza? The first few I had there were good, but the last two have had a distinct pooling of moisture (and not just from a heavy hand on the olive oil), leading to some unwelcome sogginess. I doubt it's the execution that's at fault as they snitched 2 Amys chef and day pizza cook. Perhaps a different batch of mozzarella that's weeping out more in the oven? And, yes, I know -- picky, picky, picky!

Yes!!! I had the arugula procuitto pizza and except for the burnt parts on the crust, the whole thing was floppy. The crust was way to thin. Tasted good but still disappointing.

It also does not reheat well at all

I had a suspicion that it would not reheat well, which is why I left the rest of mine there.

I was not terribly surprised that the crust on my Quatro Fromaggi was less than crisp, but I am that some of the less "loaded" pizzas were.

Number one suspect is that oven temp is too low. Given the size of the place and the popularity of the pizzas, I suspect that they may be overloading the oven at peak times. Any comments on crust quality for those who have had it in non-peak hours? JohnW?

[John W.]

It generally is a little better at 1 AM.

But trying to serve a table that large at roughly the same is very difficult in any situation. Especially at 8 PM.

[bilrus]

I'm sorry too. One quick question, since it sounds like you guys got through more than a few pies, did anyone notice a slight soupiness to the pizza? The first few I had there were good, but the last two have had a distinct pooling of moisture (and not just from a heavy hand on the olive oil), leading to some unwelcome sogginess. I doubt it's the execution that's at fault as they snitched 2 Amys chef and day pizza cook. Perhaps a different batch of mozzarella that's weeping out more in the oven? And, yes, I know -- picky, picky, picky!

Yes!!! I had the arugula procuitto pizza and except for the burnt parts on the crust, the whole thing was floppy. The crust was way to thin. Tasted good but still disappointing.

It also does not reheat well at all

I think it must be different from pizza to pizza and not systemic, because I had the same one with arugula and mine was perfectly crispy all the way through. Not crunchy-crisp, but it defintely held up when held out straight, without flopping over.

[JennyUptown]

Pro: Sette appears to have updated their online menu.

Con: It's one of those pop-up pdf's that [on my computer] is slow to open.

[mnebergall]

Jenny:

What kind of camera di dyou use to take the pictures with?

Mark

[JennyUptown]

My old Canon Powershot (it's in the ELPH family). It's a few years old, but works great. And when it doesn't, Canon's customer service group treats me better than Ann Amernick ever would...