Saturday, May 12, 10:00 A.M.
Members $45, guests $55

Chef-owner Vincent Scotto was so eager to fire up the ovens at Scopa in June 1999, that he wouldn’t let little things like construction delays stop him. In a city where a restaurant’s design often receives as much attention as its menu, it’s a rare chef who can get away with such an impetuous opening, one in which more than half the dining room was hidden behind a retaining wall and the decor was noticeably bare. In fact, New York restaurant critics were more than willing to brave a dining room in progress for the chance to taste Scotto’s food. Wrote Tom Steele in Our Town: "If you’ve spent any time at all crawling around Italy looking for—and finding—great food, many of Vincent’s preparations will be thrillingly familiar, all with his own twist, yet all with an abiding respect for the flavors and textures of the primary ingredients, and all spectacularly delicious."

A Brooklyn native, Scotto knew by the age of 14 that he would be a chef. He studied culinary arts at Johnson & Wales University, and served as sous-chef both at the beloved Al Forno in Providence, Rhode Island, and at the acclaimed Ristorante Vini di Al Covo in Venice. After a stint at Bacco in New Orleans, Scotto returned to New York, where the coincidentally named, though unrelated, Scotto family hired him as executive chef of Fresco.

Scotto’s modern Tuscan cooking won him critical acclaim at Fresco, and at Scopa, he has truly come into his own. Daniel Young of the Daily News wrote: "His food at Scopa is as original and big…as before, while his control, his ability to fine-tune the best ingredients with care and restraint, is more apparent than ever." The "revelatory" thin-crusted grilled pizzas, for which Scotto is "justifiably famous," according to Steele, are "absolutely perfected" at Scopa.

As for the room, construction is mostly complete. Bob Lape of Crain’s New York Business describes Scopa as "elegant." Though Scotto—who couldn’t wait to open—now "fans Tuscan flavor flames" in a setting that befits his food, he’ll happily take a morning break from his own kitchen to return to ours.