SEBASTIAN — I didn’t want to rush right out to Rella’s Bistro at 1550 Indian River Drive last month when it first opened. After all, new ventures take a while to work out the kinks and start running smoothly, no matter what the industry.
I’ve always felt a wait of a couple of weeks or even a month provides management and staff to settle into a routine and gives us a good idea what we can expect during future visits.
The restaurant is run by Raffaella Giambanco and her father, Robert, owner of the long-popular Giuseppi’s Pizzeria and Italian Cuisine, a long-time mainstay on Sebastian Boulevard (CR 512.)
Rella’s Bistro features food that highlights Sicily, where the Giambanco family emigrated from decades ago.
We arrived on a recent rainy Wednesday night and found the restaurant crowded. All four tables inside the restaurant were busy as were the 11 tables out on the well-sheltered deck that sits next to the Indian River Lagoon.
The building, a structure that looks like something plucked from along the Mediterranean coast and dropped it in Sebastian, occupied our attention while we waited for a table.
The interior has a high wood ceiling crisscrossed by beams and some rustic stone work.
“You can’t beat the architecture, the building or the river view,” said one member of our party as he craned his neck and peered up at the ceiling.
After a rather short 10-minute wait, we were ushered to a table on the deck with a nice view of the lagoon.
For appetizers, we ordered the Sicilian antipasti ($10.75,) the spinach/artichoke dip ($8.25) and the calamari ($9.50). We also opted for Moretti beer ($3.50) to wash down those appetizers.
The antipasti was billed as a traditional Sicilian antipasti and featured prosciutto, sopressata (dry salami), sharp provolone, Sicilian olives and caponata, a sweet and sour eggplant dish. The items were artfully spread out on a large rectangular dish and were wonderful.
The sweet-and-sour eggplant was delicious and there weren’t any complaints with either the prosciutto or sopressata. It was a tasty way to kick off the night.
The calamari were the surprise of the night. Lightly breaded and lightly fried they came with a mango marmalade for dipping instead of the typical marinara sauce. The marmalade was a delicious complement to the squid.
The spinach and artichoke dip came with tortilla chips and was something of a disappointment. Most spinach and artichoke dips I’ve encountered have some heft to them and will break tortilla chips.
Rella’s came with a dollop of spinach and a dollop of artichoke in an Alfredo sauce. It tasted fine, but I’d pass on this dish my next on my next visit.
For dinner, a companion ordered the chicken cutlet ($14.75,) another companion ordered the shrimp scampi ($16,) my wife picked the gnocchi with pesto ($13) and I ordered Rella’s eggplant dinner ($14).
As we waited for our dinners, we were puzzled because we saw bread being delivered to other tables, but it never made it to our table. That was puzzling.
Bread or rolls typically are the first thing to arrive at a table in an Italian restaurant.
One member of our party thought there were so many appetizer plates and dishes on our table for four that the bread was overlooked.
Still, when the dinners arrived they made up for the lack of bread.
One companion who had breaded chicken cutlet was very happy with his selection, a chicken cutlet topped with marinara and melted mozzarella. He said he liked the fact the dish came with plenty of mozzarella and the light marinara did not overwhelm the chicken. He also said his dish of fettuccini Alfredo was very good.
From my perspective, Rella’s eggplant dinner was the hit of the night.
The dish featured grilled eggplant layered with ricotta, prosciutto and marinara sauce. The dish was topped off with a dab of pesto sauce. I’m a big fan of eggplant and this was a cut above what I usually get when selecting this vegetable.
Our companion with the scampi said the dish was not lacking in shrimp and he enjoyed the creamy sauce drizzled over his pasta.
“There were plenty of shrimp, but the pasta could have used more sauce and some bread to mop it up with.”
My wife was pleased with her gnocchi. She said the ricotta, basil and pine nut stuffing was wonderful and the dumplings were good-sized.
The Giambanco father-daughter team has crafted a “charming place.”
I’d go back despite the couple of bumps I mentioned. I liked the fact many dinners on the restaurant’s substantial menu are gluten-free. I also liked the feeling the folks in the kitchen are willing to experiment like they did with the mango marmalade and calamari.
Gluten-free is also something one doesn’t see very often.
That said, the bill for dinner for two, including appetizers, entrees, drinks and desserts will run about $70 without tip. The price is right, the location is terrific and you’d be hard-pressed not to enjoy Rella’s Bistro for a long leisurely dinner.
The reviewer dines anonymously at restaurants at the expense of the Sebastian River News.
