Marcello's

Restaurant Review

Anecdotes & Analysis

The fastest-expanding restaurant categories in our town are about pizza, barbecue, hamburgers and Pan-Asian concepts. Right behind those is, of all things, Sicilian food. One would think there is already plenty enough of that subset of Italian food, given that most people here with Italian roots trace their lines to Sicily. But those origins are over a century ago, and the cooking in Italy's Deep South has diverged far from our versions of it. Quite a few new restaurants explore this divide. Two of them, both born with in the past year, are next door to one another. The younger of them, Marcello's, inspired the greater attention, largely due to a more interesting physical plant and an inspired wine program. (The other, Cibugnu, will show up here shortly.)

Why It's Essential

[caption id="attachment_43211" align="alignnone" width="480"] Wine racks in Marcello's dining room.[/caption] Even if you grew up in an Italian family with lots of cooks (is there any other kind?), you will find the menu at Marcello's a nudge challenging. Although the names and descriptions of the dish are familiar, the way ingredients are put together and the flavors that result are novel. In most cases, this will be an advance beyond what you're used to. Although not all the menu is Sicilian, and they don't cover the entire range of Sicilian cooking (where are the pig's feet?), most of the food here is very rewarding.

Backstory

[caption id="attachment_43122" align="alignnone" width="480"] Pork cheeks Marsala at Marcello's.[/caption] Marcello's (pronounced the Italian way, "mar-CHELL-ohz") opened in the spring of 2014. It took over the space left empty when Le Chat Noir--the much-missed cabaret--closed a year earlier. Marcello's extends the Gallier Hall-area restaurant row (Herbsaint, Desi Vega's, Chibignu and others) further up the streetcar line. The owners are Gene Todaro Sr. and Jr., who have had two restaurants in Lafayette.

Dining Room

[caption id="attachment_43118" align="alignnone" width="480"] Dining room at Marcello's.[/caption] The two dining rooms are approximately of equal size, but have different ambiance. The front room is brighter and livelier, with tall ceilings, interesting antiques, and the bar. The rear dining room is more intimate and dimmer, the racks of wine separating the tables. The servers hold entertaining discussions with customers, full of both knowledge and opinions.

For Best Results

Spend more time than usual with the menu. Don't take anything you read on the menu for granted, not even plates you think you know well. Ask for detailed descriptions.