Seppia is a new restaurant from Ben Lefenfeld and his team from La Cuchara (which sadly has been closed as a result of a kitchen fire for some time). It's right in the heart of the Avenue in Hampden in the space which was formerly the Five and Dime. I checked it out with some friends last weekend and had a good dinner.
First off, the space is really stunning. The Five and Dime had its own charm, but I was curious how the team would renovate the space and make it their own. They did a great job. It's beautiful without being over the top and very comfortable. The tile at the downstairs bar is really stunning.
And the service was great throughout - something I expected having eaten at La Cuchara multiple times and being wowed by their service. From our server to the food runners, everyone was helpful and friendly.
The drinks were great. The front of the menu has a whole section for martinis - dry, dirty, wet, perfect, and reverse. I started with a dry martini, and two of my friends went with their dirty. We were all happy with our choices. Then, with dinner, we moved on to wine, and they have a great wine list. A friend got a glass of a natural Malvasia, while two of us chose a glass of unfiltered Arneis. With wine, martinis, other cocktails, NA selection, and beer, they have everything you might want with your dinner.
We shared two dishes from their "Vegetables, Bigger Fish, and Mollusk" section: their green salad (lettuces, basil, mint, 24-month Parmigiano Reggiano, and shallot vinaigrette) and their tuna crudo (with Calabrian chile crunch, fermented chiles, and an orange emulsion). Both of these dishes were very good. The tuna crudo was light and bright and fresh but it was also creative (I eat a lot of crudos and this one didn't bore me or feel like 100 others I've had lately). The salad is a must. You're about to eat plates and plates of pasta. You want this bright and simple salad made from great ingredients.
Then we shared four pastas: their bucatini (with basil pistachio pesto, roasted tomato, and Stracciatella); their mafaldine al nero (with saffron mussels, clams, white wine, tarragon, and pecorino); their rabbit agnolotti (with butternut squash, sage, hazelnuts, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and a natural reduction); and their mushroom ravioli (with ricotta, morel mushrooms, cream, ramps, and asparagus). Two were hits and two were just misses for us. The bucatini is simple and delicious (two of us chose it as their favorite), and the mafaldine was great as well - tons of seafood flavor and very bright and delicious (the other two chose this as their favorite). The mushroom ravioli had a filling that we found quite flavorless, and we couldn't find any ramps (unless they'd been put in the filling? but I can't imagine that since we found the filling sort of bland and ramps are anything but). We did enjoy the morels in cream and the asparagus on the dish, but the pasta itself didn't do it for us. The rabbit agnolotti also didn't work for us. The filling of the agnolotti was also a mousse-like texture, which I wouldn't mind except I'm not sure I want my rabbit mousse-d? I didn't taste the rabbit at all, and I found the texture strange for a meat-filled agnolotti. The butternut squash, sage, and jus were fine (I did wonder if they were going for a play on an agrodolce, I didn't find the reduction very balanced), but I wouldn't order this dish again. (One of our group had had it a few weeks before on a prior visit and it had been her favorite that night, so maybe something was a bit off the night we visited).
And thankfully we'd saved room for a dessert to share amongst the four of us, because the dessert we ordered was one of my favorite dishes of the night: Sbrisolona (rustic almond-cornmeal tart, rosemary roasted grapes, and mascarpone). The menu description didn't give us much of a heads up that we had ordered something deconstructed, but picture a plate with mascarpone topped with tons of the most delicious roasted grapes, then with shards of crispy tart dough sticking out around the dish. It was simple but absolutely delicious. If you haven't roasted grapes before, run to try it.
I didn't love every dish we tried at Seppia last weekend, but I really enjoyed almost everything! And between that and the great service, great drinks, and great vibes, I wholeheartedly recommend you check it soon for dinner! read more