Last Updated on September 22, 2024
The Bulgari Hotel’s Sette Restaurant offers La Dolce Vita in Style
What should you name your seventh restaurant? Sette means Seventh in Italian and this place, to one side of the Bulgari Hotel Knightsbridge, with its own private entrance, is the seventh opening of New York City’s Scarpetta restaurant family, owned by LDV Hospitality (La Dolce Vita) founded by John Meadow. One sign of true luxury is the kind of minimalist approach you’ll find here. The location itself is one of the wealthiest parts of London and Sette has all the trappings of pared-back luxury. It has a dark and moody Milano feel, with subdued lighting, leather banquettes and chairs and stylish designer wood tables. There’s a gloriously decadent bar as you walk into the main restaurant, including a display of Ferrari Franciacorta, yet nothing is ostentatious. This is the kind of place to very discretely flaunt your Ferragamo.
Of course, a glass of Ferrari Franciacorta is the perfect start to any evening at Sette. Nothing to do with the other Ferrari brand, the late Giulio Ferrari was the first Italian producer to make traditional method (Metodo Classico) sparkling wine in Italy, with his winery founded in the Trento region in 1902. An excellent alternative to champagne, this Franciacorta is crisp, fresh and light. There seemed nothing better to go with the Franciacorta than a platter of Irish rock oysters served with lemon, a balsamic mignonette and tiny bottles of Tabasco.
A tray of breads with a simple baguette complemented by an excellent light and fluffy focaccia and some delicious Stromboli bread filled with mozzarella and tomato and accompanied by olive oil, sundried tomato and olives and a fluffy mascarpone butter took the edge from our appetite. It was hard to resist finishing the lot.
The menu at Sette has a good mix of options, with crudo, appetisers, pasta, mains and dessert on offer. My companion picked the crudo tasting plate- a delicate, fresh and flavourful presentation of Salmon with pesto a la Trapanese (a Sicilian variation based on almonds and sun-dried tomato), sea bass with lemon confit and red pepper and yellowtail with diced shallots in vinegar.
For me, a wonderful dish of seared Orkney scallops, served with cauliflower purée, roasted cauliflower and a caper dressing. Perfectly cooked plump scallops were complemented by the earthy roasted cauliflower and the piquant capers.
By now we’d progressed to a glass each of Girlan Pinot Grigio 2020, a rounded and refreshing mouthful of green apple, lemon and peach with herbaceous notes. From Sud Tyrol Alto Aldige, this was an excellent pairing that worked surprisingly well with both of our starters and with the pasta course as the acidity of the wine cut through the creamier notes of the scallop dish and brought out the rich flavours of the crudo.
Unexpectedly for me (I would normally skip the pasta course) the ravioli cacio e pepe with charred leek brown butter and sage was a personal favourite. Such a simple dish, but carefully presented with a little parmesan crisp, the silky cheese centre just exploded in my mouth as I bit into each pasta parcel.
Black Cod is a fish I associate with Asian restaurants so I was curious to try the Sette ‘Italian style’ version. Otherwise known as Sablefish, Black Cod is no relation to the normal cod that you might find at your local chippy. The firm, buttery flesh is wonderfully flaky. Served here with caramelised finely shaved fennel and a sweet tomato confit, the creamy fish worked brilliantly with the intense confit and the aniseedy notes of the fennel.
My companion picked Mediterranean scarlet prawns from the grill – a super-simple dish with the prawns themselves dressed in olive oil and salt. The quality of the ingredients in both dishes really shone through and he loved the delicious char on the crustaceans and sucked every morsel he could from the heads.
To accompany, a simple rocket salad with shavings of parmesan was perfectly executed.
Our pairing of Sancerre Cedrick Bardin 2022 Loire Valley was a classy sauvignon with plenty of minerality and notes of white fruits.
On to dessert. Gianduiotto are some of my favourite chocolates. From Piedmont in Northern Italy, they are distinctively shaped like ingots and usually served wrapped in gold or silver foil. Made from chocolate mixed with 30% hazelnut paste, the gianduja is then coated in chocolate. So, a Gianduiotto dessert is my idea of heaven on earth and this didn’t let me down at all! Super rich, it was served with a refreshing stracciatella gelato and a little dab of gold foil.
My companion meanwhile wallowed in a rich coffee, chocolate, hazelnut and caramel collation, the Espresso Budino with salted caramel and chocolate biscotti and a hazelnut gelato.
Sette is a restaurant that stands as a great destination option, perfectly located just a few minutes from Harrods and Harvey Nicols. And, if you happen to be staying at the Bulgari Hotel, don’t miss it! It’s a refined and elegant setting with well-presented dishes prepared with care from exemplary ingredients.
Sette London,
4 Knightsbridge Green,
London, UK SW1X 7QA
44 (0) 207 151 1025
info@settelondon.com
Looking for an alternative? We recommend Caractère in Notting Hill
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