Some person building a new website asked me for help writing some code to do some calculations, and after I gave him exactly what he needed he said he would send me a restaurant gift certificate. In a few weeks I received a $25 gift certificate to I Fratellini, a restaurant I had never really heard about, but when I Googled it, I discovered it had very positive reviews. I also noticed that $25 would not go very far there at dinner, but for a lunch for two that would cover a big chunk of the bill, so I decided that would be a perfect place for my wife and I have to have lunch together on a weekday.
She picked me up from the Danforth Campus and it only took a few minutes to drive to the corner of Wydown and Hanley where I Fratellini is located. They even have a small parking lot right next to it which makes for easy parking. We showed up as they were opening for lunch at 11:30 and it was empty, but another person with a 11:30 reservation came in from the lot right behind us. By noon there were a number of patrons there so it was maybe a quarter full, but we found it odd they put another couple right next to us at the next table for two, about three feet away from us. Luckily they were not too loud or obnoxious.
The dining area was small and intimate and well decorated. The light fixtures looked like bunches of grapes where only some of the bulbs were illuminated. Our waiter arrived promptly and poured us two small glasses of water from a slightly chilled bottle and let us look over the menu. My wife and I had actually decided on the same lunch pasta entree, the Tagliatelle with Prosciutto, but when the waiter mentioned the lunch specials, the sausage lasagna sounded very interesting so I thought I would order that instead. As we waited for the pasta he brought out some bread that was good but nothing special. We did notice that the top of the crust was quite salty, but the second basket he brought was not so bad. Each time he brought us some bread he would also deliver new butter which he prominently announced to us as "pistachio butter!" He was definitely proud of the butter.
The pasta entrees arrived in a timely manner and the portions were generous and they smelled great. I tried some of the Tagliatelle first and it was marvelous. The pasta was definitely freshly made there and the sauce was rich and lightly flavored. The garlic sauce definitely tasted of cream and butter and together with the thick and hearty pasta they made an excellent meal. My wife only ate about half of it. Likewise my sausage lasagna was huge and it included a generous amount of sauce which included chunks of fresh tomatoes and peppers, slightly spiced. The pasta was again definitely fresh and homemade and the sausage had a strong but not overpowering flavor that combined well with the pasta, cheese and sausage. I carefully ate mine so it would end up as a perfectly sized lunch portion for the next day. That would make two large, delicious lunches!
The service at I Fratellini was very prompt and we actually had two waiters. The first one was the one who brought the water, bread and took our orders, and as my wife puts it, he seemed a bit "snooty" but was still very responsive. The second waiter was much friendlier and more easy going. But with two waiters someone came by pretty frequently to give us water or to see if we needed anything. Since the water was not so cold, my wife asked for some ice and Waiter #2 (the friendlies one) came back shortly with a larger glass full of ice for her.
Waiter #2 was also the one who took our plates to pack up our take home boxes. We noticed the containers were all cardboard which would make it easier to reheat. Today I reheated my lasagna for lunch and it was again delicious. My wife reheated her Tagliatelle at dinner, and she could see all the butter coming out of it when she reheated it (two Bounty paper towels worth!) That is not to say that it was not still delicious, but we can definitely say neither dish was "heart friendly". But for an occasional, intimate, gourmet Italian meal, I Fratellini is definitely a good place to go, especially if someone else is helping to pay the bill.
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