Seta (**) Milan

Situated in the Mandarin Oriental, pretty luxurious setting. Sleek but not overly modern. Lots of glass.

Sat down in a fuckin huge cozy booth and was poured some nice bubbs. Team was friendly right off the bat and just felt like a solid rapport from the start. We did the 10 years of Seta Menu. Ordinarily I try to go with the seasonal menu given the option but we were in the midst of a pretty stupid run of restaurants, something about playing the hits felt like the right move.

Aperitivo:
1. Tamarind glazed avocado, friggitelli peppers cream and linen seeds
2.Senise pepper cream, mustard parfait, anchovy and golden beetroot
3. Cauliflower glazed with carrot and black garlic

Delicious run of welcome bites, enjoyed that they were fairly unassuming ingredients and mostly veggies. Very light but satisfying.

Before launching into the proper menu… Pickled navet salad with beetroot sauce, cocoa nibs, and frozen blood orange.

OSTRICHE
Oysters with potatoes, friggitelli peppers, caviar and Champagne sauce. Great dish, chowder vibes

ASTICE BLU
Roasted blue lobster with “bagna cauda”, cuttlefish and vanilla scented bisque

RISOTTO
Risotto with raspberry and herbs cream. A big signature item for them, beautifully presented and delicious. Great risotto dish.

RAVIOLI
“Plin ravioli” stuffed with roasted duck, pumpkin and capers

ANGUILLA
Red wine glazed eel with foie gras and rosemary sauce. Amazing and rich. I love eel and foie gras so I was an easy target here.

Sea urchin ice cream, marinated mackerel, mussels juice and samphire. Brine city.

Bonus butter monster pic my wife made. Very silly, very delicious.

PICCIONE
Cocoa scented pigeon with hazelnut, mushrooms and red fruits. A real beauty of a dish, just right down Main Street for an autumnal game/protein.

Pre-Dessert: Lemon and lovage sorbet with Nashi pear and lemon bubbles.

UVA E NOCCIOLA
Grape and hazelnut, bubbly hazelnut mousse, grape citronette and strawberry grape sorbet

Petit fours:

1. Peanuts cream with milk chocolate and exotic fruits jelly – this one had me extremely impressed. So good
2. Coconut sphere with vanilla and plum
3. Almond financier with pinenuts and lemon
4. Chocolate tartlet, salted caramel and banana

Finally some grappa and chocolate. Our sommelier asked us what kind of grappa we might like based on flavor profile. They brought out a cart with just monster bricks of chocolate and chipped off our bits. Was tremendous pairing and pretty sexy way to close it out.

Had a blast, I enjoy mixing it up with the staff and there was a great familiarity here so that was great. Struck, to me, a pretty much perfect balance of casual, relaxed warmth in service with impeccable attention to detail. Kind of exactly what I wanted out of ** given the location and price.