Scarpetta

Monday, August 25, 2008 - In a town full of whiz-kid chefs, Scott Conant is an anomaly; at thirty-seven, he cooks like an older man—wisely, taking his time, knowing exactly what he’s doing. Having established his mastery of Italian cuisine at L’Impero (where he pulled off the oxymoron of refined rustic) and Alto (where he veered into esoterica), Conant has now relocated, jettisoning the stuffy drapes-and-sconces trappings of his previous restaurants for Scarpetta, a streamlined space on the border of the meatpacking district.