UPDATE: March 30th will be the official opening date. The soft opening party of the new Ristorante Settepani happened on Friday, March 19th, at 7:30-10:00 PM. The bakery-now-turned-restaurant welcomed back anxious customers who have been going without for the past month. The official first day of business will be March 30th, so folks can make it a point to check out the new wine bar restaurant in two weeks. Read more about it in today's Real Deal article: LINK. Ristorante Settepani is located at 196 Lenox Avenue and 120th Street. The nearest subway is the 2,3 at 125th or 116th Street. Photo by Ulysses.
Friday, March 19, 2010
☞ Eat: Ristorante Settepani Soft Opening
UPDATE: March 30th will be the official opening date. The soft opening party of the new Ristorante Settepani happened on Friday, March 19th, at 7:30-10:00 PM. The bakery-now-turned-restaurant welcomed back anxious customers who have been going without for the past month. The official first day of business will be March 30th, so folks can make it a point to check out the new wine bar restaurant in two weeks. Read more about it in today's Real Deal article: LINK. Ristorante Settepani is located at 196 Lenox Avenue and 120th Street. The nearest subway is the 2,3 at 125th or 116th Street. Photo by Ulysses.
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do i smell a "trend jumper" here? the Gran Piatto d'Oro just around the corner on 5th ave doing great business from the start, and expanding to a new space perhaps motivated this strategic decision? the press release machine has seemed to forgotten to profile the esteemed chef of this italian cuisine...hum? wonder why that is? the red rooster chef is hyped nonstop, Chez Lucienne down the street has their Chef driving the business, why no mention of the chef behind this cuisine? and did i read "wine bar" as in Nectar? This looks like a "mash up" copy cat of d'Oro and Nectar. Is the nabe big enough to support all of 'em? We'll see.
ReplyDeleteGran Piatto d'Oro?!?!?! You must be kidding. That place is the tackiest place in all of Manhattan. Try looking at their decor and think again.
ReplyDeleteWho cares about the decor if the food is good?
ReplyDeleteWe walked by Settapani last night. It was packed & I was very happy to see it reopen.
ReplyDeleteI walked by the new Five and Diamond last night (112th/FDB) and looked at the menu. It is quite expensive for the neighborhood. What do other people think - is it too much, can Harlem support these new expensive places? I am skeptical at this point, but I hope to be proven wrong.
ReplyDeletePlaces that would make a killing in Harlem: A decent diner, good Asian (Thai, Chinese and/or Japanese) food, a pub, family-friendly moderately priced restaurant.
ReplyDeleteThese are the type of places that exist in every neighborhood below 96th because it is an easy formula for success.
I agree with the above post. Harlem needs more casual dining for its residents. I welcome the new trendy swank places and in the end think they are good for the neighborhood, but I want more places to go out on an everyday week night for Thai, or Chinese, or yes, even a good diner. These types of establishments would be more embraced by the majority of the community, rather than so many places that are above the price point for your average Harlem resident on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteThere's plenty of chinese food in Harlem. Need a good sushi or thai place and not the type that's made by chinese people.
ReplyDeletewill settepani still be serving brunch and be the welcoming place it was or is it trying to morph into a more loungy night time experience??
ReplyDeletewhat is the status of bar one across the street? is that place ever going to open?
ReplyDeleteThey will be open during the day for lunch and that should mean brunch on the weekends since we are in New York City. They just now have dinner options for the evening.
ReplyDeleteWould love to see some nice neighbourhood restaurants in addition to “destination” restaurants. That said, I confess I have never gone to “Native” over on Lenox and 118. Is it good?
ReplyDeleteseems the restaurants and retail of late is solely aimed at singles and or couples with no kids, great incomes, and plenty of disposable income. The prices at N boutique, Katrina Flowers, & Setti "restorante" or whatever are out of reach for 99.9% of the locals. Can I ever save up and buy in Harlem if I cater these places? I think not. It's far cheaper to buy nice flowers, quality clothing, and decent general dining on the UWS than that stretch of Lenox in Harlem. Must everything by tony and upscale? What ever happened to a sensible spot?
ReplyDeleteSomething in between Conways and N Boutique would be nice.
ReplyDeleteDamn but that Conways in filthy.
Native is good & moderately priced. They serve at all hours of the day so it's convenient for me. And - my art is on their wall. I walked by there tonight. They had the doors wide open letting the beautiful evening air in.
ReplyDeleteI do hope the next opening is a diner...
Agreed. Native is that great middle of the road restaurant that fits right into the neighborhood. The food is better than average and the prices are reasonable.
ReplyDeleteIn the article the owner says their goal (literally) is "a high-caliber Italian restaurant". It'll serve'em right to have this place go the way of the "Caviar & Champagne Bar" across the street and the Bently Ferrari Car dealership down the street on 129th & Lenox.
ReplyDeleteI've no doubt they'll ask for "high caliber" dollars for the experience. Has Harlem been screaming for a "High Caliber" Italian restaurant? A plain old "good" or even "great" restaurant not sufficient for Harlem? The owner here does not seem to be too bright (and I know her too). She is setting the bar quite high as every aspect of the restaurant should be measured against the standard is it "High Caliber Italian".
As someone noted previously, I've heard nothing of the people who will do the cooking. What award winning, expertly trained Chef will be delivering this "High Caliber" cuisine?
I'm guessing "Mustafa" who lives on 116th or Fernando who lives on lower 116th, neither of which have green cards. If you characterize yourself as "High Caliber Italian" in NYC, you owe it to the public to name names, who's the master behind the cuisine?
Did one of the other blog trolls just get on to this site?
ReplyDeleteC’mon guys—isn't it time people used a screen name rather than “anonymous”?
ReplyDelete“Lower 116th?” How does that work?
I guess when this blog is quoted on Curbed you do inherit trolls.
Sounds like someone has a major, not to mention overly-verbose, chip on their shoulder about Settepani.
ReplyDeleteI think Anonymous is right. Who is the Chef? The truth about Settepani is that the owners are bigots. A few years ago they had one great waitress whom they treated very badly, another African woman. The other waitresses all from Ethiopia were lazy and unfriendly, and they were obviously jealous. What amazes me is that people come here claiming to be victims or refugees of brutality in their countries and yet when they get here get some money treat other people just like their Dictactors treated them in Africa. Even after this woman left, every time they saw her sometimes at their cafe buying bread, they harassed her. My advice to the owners is be gracious to everyone, don't talk to me about so and so, because you don't know how I think. I make my own conclusions, no brainwashing here:)-
ReplyDelete