Marcello Ristorante

★★★★☆☆
Marcello Ristorante | 7115 Roosevelt Way N.E. Seattle, WA 98115  ~  (206) 527-4778
April 15, 2010. We have a fun little family tradition dating back to ~1994 whereby birthday celebrants select the restaurant of their choosing and the family celebrates an evening out together. From a culinary perspective this was a little dicey when our children were younger since we were obliged to respect their wishes for fast food at restaurants with a ‘Fun Park’, but on the flip side, choices like the ‘Happy Palace’ introduced some asian selections into their diets at an early age. With time, as tastes developed, the requests for fast food disappeared and we were faced with a much more pleasant dilemma – where the cutoff would be on the upper end. Requests for the Herb Farm, Canlis, Rovers and the Metropolitan Grill didn’t survive that cut, but there were plenty of fine restaurants that did – one of which was Marcellos, which happens to be on Roosevelt Ave. So it was that we had a reservation there to celebrate Hannah’s birthday.

Marcello's on Roosevelt

Marcello’s opened up on Roosevelt ~10 years ago under the name Ciao Bella Too – I presume an extension of Ciao Bella – an institution on 25th NE until it burnt down a few years ago.  They spent a considerable amount of time converting this former garage, creating a warm and friendly atmosphere. After a year or so, they underwent a name change to Marcello.  We’ve been dining here once or twice a year until a few years ago.

Warm atmosphere at Marcello's

The one downside to an otherwise enjoyable evening happened even before we got in the door – the hostess was having a quick smoke around the corner when we walked up. She quickly put it out and hurried in to show us to our table next to the central fire place, but seemed out of sorts throughout the evening. We started dinner with a plate of Bruschetta (toasted bread with tomato, garlic olive oil and basil) as well as Mozarella Caprese (fresh slices of mozzarella with basel and tomato slices) both of which disappeared quickly. As usual, amongst the six of us we sampled a good part of the menu, including Fettuccine Bolegnese (fettuccine in meat sauce with onions tomatoes, celery and carrots), Vitello Porto (veal in port wine sauce), Spaghetti Putenesca (spaghetti in spicy tomato sauce with capers, olives, anchovies and oregano), Gnocchi gorgonzola (potato dumplings in gorgonzola sauce with garlic, basil mushrooms and artichoke), Spaghetti Netuno (spaghetti in red sauce with anchovies, capers, kalamari and prawns).  I matched my meal with a fine glass of Montepulciano.  As usual, the food was very good, though the veal was cool when it arrived at the table. Unfortunately the espresso machine was down, leaving an after dinner double out of the question, but we finished dinner with some delicious sorbet and tiramisu desserts shared amongst us.

Bottom line: If I could find the half star I would have given Marcello’s 4.5 out of 6.  As usual, the food was delicious (excepting the temperature of the veal).  Unfortunately the service was not up to five star status, and there was no espresso available, so I’ll give it a good+.  I certainly won’t hesitate to come back with family or friends to enjoy another meal in the not too distant future.

(★★★★★★ = out of this world, ★★★★★☆ = excellent – I’d bring someone I was trying to impress, ★★★★☆☆ = good – I’d plan to visit again, ★★★☆☆☆ = ok – I’d visit again, ★★☆☆☆☆ = I might go back and give it a second chance, ★☆☆☆☆☆ = I’d go back if they were the only place left after an earthquake, ☆☆☆☆☆☆ = never again)