Trattoria Bella — Restaurant in Palm Bay

Trattoria Bella Cucina Italiana- Palm Bay, FL- 2 Stars

“The cooking standards for Italian food are less demanding than for French. All you need are some fried mozzarella and five pastas and you're in business.” – Danny Meyer

Aside from the ever-present fast food burger place neigh on every corner, Italian-American sit-downs have to be the largest segment of the restaurant industry. If there is a burger joint on every corner, there must be an Italian-American watering hole on every other one. Such were my thoughts as I read the name, Trattoria Bella Cucina Italiana winking at me from the window of my name generator. OTB I go!

Stepping inside there is no doubt you are in an Italian-American eatery as every single table in such an establishment is a red and white checkerboard. Does one firm have a monopoly on interior decoration among the Italian-American restaurant owners? Standard décor aside, I was shown a table and handed a menu.

Perusing the menu, I must say, I was looking forward to sampling their grub and as I was about to put my menu down, Kevin showed up tableside with some bread and told me he was going to be my waiter for the meal. I asked if the pasta was homemade. At first, he answered indeed, but upon further pressing, he backed down from his assertion. So, he either didn't know for sure or stopped fibbing. Either way, it didn't bode well. I asked Kevin for an order of Octopus Mediterranea and some Cioppino.

Digging into the bread while awaiting Kevin's return I was delighted by the obvious homemade bread. It was crunchy, charming and comes with tastes like basil butter. Very scrumptious. I didn't get a chance to taste much more of the bread when I saw Kevin returning with my order.

If you take a gander at the accompanying pictures, you can see just how well everything was presented. It certainly looked delicious! Placing my meat hooks around the knife and fork I began to dig through the Octopus Mediterranea. This is absolutely perfect. The meal was obviously made to order as the potatoes were finely chopped like a traditional root vegetable and the Octopus was enchanting. The Cephalopod was supple and not at all rubbery which is often the case and this makes it a 5-star dish all day long. The side of broccoli rabe was flash fried, unseasoned, bland and withering.

Turning my attention to the Ciopinno I noticed that it didn't quite look up to the bar set by the previously digested mollusk. In fact, it had a rather overly fishy taste (this is a sure sign the fish/seafood is past its prime). Unless you're eating the Bluefish you just caught during their last run off the coast, your fish shouldn't taste like fish if you know what I mean. This was obviously concocted with cheap ingredients and this made me really sad as the Octopus was so outstanding. So much hope dashed in an instant of stinky, gamy, past its prime seafood. It is so hard to see such a mixed bag. They should have told me no Cioppino today. Instead they tried to bluff me and hope I wouldn’t notice. They picked the wrong customer to attempt this subterfuge. Very insulting.

The Big Boy says, “Incompetent Irrelevant and Immaterial.” #bigboy #bigboydiningout...

Let me start by setting the scene - The moment you walk through the door you're encapsulated with an aura of "home", the decor, the noises, the scenery, the freshly washed linens smell. That's right, you've actually walked through a portal to another dimension, because the moment you sit down and are greeted by the waiters - you forget entirely that you're in Florida/Palm Bay.

The service - Immaculate. Incredibly attentive and won't have you waiting long on anything.

The food - Let me tell you this, I have been on the hunt for GOOD food in the 321 Area code for 4 years, I've eaten at just about every restaurant in a 40 mile radius and have driven hours to other places. This restaurant is hands down easily one of the best I've had.

Appetizer - Burrata and Prosciutto - This isn't your average store bought prosciutto, this is reminiscent of my time in Italy, nutty undertones, the perfect amount of salt and texture unrivaled. The Burrata was made to perfection, no overwhelming flavors and the perfect consistency, paired with the glaze balsamic - unrivaled. (Advise to eat with the house bread).

Main - Seafood Cioppino - The base, the broth, you could taste the utter perfection and balance with umami. The fruits of the ocean all lingering and sharing their love with the broth creating a richness of flavor, but a light touch on the palate. They did not go shy on the seafood, you'll get an abundance in your bowl enough to make you want to join a seafood conservation group that you're worried about sustainability. Please don't judge me for picking up the bowl to get every drop of soup - the spoon simply wasn't large enough, perhaps a ladle next time! (jk)

Dessert - Tiramisu - Where do I begin? Imagine your mouth being coated with the smoothest texture, your body feeling as if it's been enveloped by 50,000 thread silk Egyptian sheets, the mascarpone and creaminess begins to overwhelm your senses, your eyes shut and you aren't sure if you're in heaven or not.

Vanilla Ice-cream Affogato - The perfect cap to a wonderful and amazing dinner, pure vanilla bean ice-cream, topped with incredible espresso, quality is not something they skimp on, everything from start to finish was of the utmost quality grade ingredients.

I can tell you, my time traveling the world from 30 some odd different countries; this place has etched it's standing in the Top 3, and I've spent many weeks in Italy - never did it reach this level of desire.

Leaving the restaurant, I completely forgot I was in Florida. To me, the restaurant was a full week long vacation for my brain as each bite was a spoonful...

My husband and I LOVE an authentic Italian restaurant so we drove from Cocoa yesterday for his birthday dinner.

We had a 5:00 reservation. I was able to easily make the reservation through the restaurant’s website, which is wonderful for people who have anxiety over phone calls like I do.

We arrived a little early because we weren’t sure how traffic would be on I95 but we were greeted and seated immediately.

As soon as we walked in we commented on how lovely the decor was. From the art on the walls to the red and white checkered tablecloths.

Our waiter, Nelson, came over and introduced himself. He asked if we had been there before and if we were celebrating anything. I told him we hadn’t and we were there for my husband’s birthday. Nelson told us it was his birthday too!

He went over the chef’s special for the evening and brought us our drinks. My husband got Mango Tea, which came in a large carafe and I stuck with water. Though we didn’t order alcohol, we noticed that even though they only serve beer and wine, they had some delicious sounding cocktails made with wine. We will have to try one next time we go.

My husband ordered the Braised Short Rib with Risotto and I ordered the chef’s special for the night, house made ravioli with goat cheese and pear and crushed pistachios. While we waited for our meals to arrive we tasted the house made bread and it was divine!

Our meals arrived fairly quickly and we were NOT disappointed. The short rib was absolutely delicious as was the chef’s special. I ate every bite and my husband brought half of his home to enjoy later.

We ordered the tiramisu to go and Nelson brought out some cannolis on the house for my husbands birthday. Both desserts were exactly what I would expect at a high end restaurant in Italy! The cannoli was so fresh and had a citrus taste to it that made it absolutely perfect. I’m picky about tiramisu and was not at all let down.

Our waiter, Nelson, went above and beyond to make our meal special.

We are already looking forward to going back. I couldn’t recommend Trattoria...