Trattoria Marcella

Continuing the celebration of being done with law school, Dan and I headed to Trattoria Marcella for a nice italian meal. Dan found Trattoria Marcella on St. Louis Magazine's top 10 restaurant list, so we decided to try it out for ourselves. Reservations are definitely needed, as we had reservations for 8:30p and didn't get seated until 20 minutes later.

My favorite thing about Trattoria Marcella is the bread - served hot and fresh from a man carrying around a bread basket. If Han and I ever open up a restaurant, we are definitely having people walk around with warm bread baskets!

What's unique about this bread is that it's also served with a side of hummus instead of the more traditional butter/olive oil. While not as thick as Middle Eastern style hummus, it was still tasty and added an interesting flare to the bread.

We started with the bruschetta, which was deeeeeeelish.

The bread was perfectly crispy, and the tomatoes were wonderfully tart. Ymm ymmm.

Dan ordered the chicken and spinach cannelloni:

We both agreed that this dish was... weird. The tomato sauce was too sweet, and the chicken was basically pureed to a mush.

The reviews all raved about the lobster risotto special (served everyday), so I couldn't resist.

And the reviews in general didn't disappoint... the risotto was quite enjoyable! The rice was cooked just right, the sauce was nicely tomato-y, and they didn't skimp on the lobster meat. The only thing I'd say is that I expected this dish to go above and beyond, and while it was pretty good, there was something a tad bland about it. I expected a little more depth.

I will say, though, that our waiter was super nice and apologized for the long wait for our food. He explained that because it was mother's day weekend and because it was the first weekend debuting their new menu, the kitchen was incredibly swamped. I appreciate a sincere waiter any day!

Trattoria Marcella
3600 Watson Rd.
St. Louis, MO 63109
314.352.7706