A two-story Italian trattoria by Antonio Fresa with postcard views of St. Petersburg: from the attic you look at the Savior on Spilled Blood, and from the glazed veranda you watch the people walking in the Mikhailovsky Garden. The building itself is protected as a historical heritage. The major reconstruction was done in record time and with pinpoint accuracy. Antonio and the Italian architect Fabio Bronda wanted to replicate the atmosphere of family houses in Umbria, Lazio or Tuscany. Textured beams and stained-glass windows, antique mirrors and noble materials like marble and brass are all from there. A huge oven and grill appeared on the veranda. There is no other way: the hit of the menu is a meter-long pizza. That is, in reality, this is a whole meter of pizza with four different flavors: from the classic Margherita to black truffles. There is also a half-meter and a small one of 28 cm. The menu focuses on Tuscan cuisine, solid and meaty. A lot of things are on the grill: different meats and offal are cooked in a Tuscan fireplace. They simmer porchetta and goulash, bake chicken, lamb ribs or veal liver with sage. As expected, they make extraordinary pastas (there are more than a dozen of them!). A cheese factory was specially equipped for the restaurant, so all young pickled mozzarella, stracciatella and other melodious cheeses are made here and served fresh.

Despite the fact that Antonio is a Southerner-Apulian by birth, he regards Tuscany as his second homeland, with all the creative consequences that provenance entails. So, the leading roles in Marso Polo’s menu are taken by cutlets, porchetta... A host of meat dishes, a host of grilled delicacies. Pasta and pizza should also be included among the main specialties - there are many to choose from, with a variety of fillings. The pizzas also come in a variety of sizes. From 28-centimeter to — literally! — a meter (with a total of four filling options in that one vast pizza). It is absolutely impossible to leave this place hungry!

Goulash and porquettes from the oven, specific meat pastas and other Northern Italian dishes, meter-wide (!) pizzas in Antonio Fresa's new restaurant (from the man who brought us Saviv and Sea, Signora) – Marso Polo is located in a pavilion in what could well be my favorite area of St. Petersburg: near the Summer Gardens, the Mikhailovsky Castle, the Russian Museum and the Field of Mars itself. It’s a location that’s surrounded by vibrant life.

"Italian houses often have these open-fire hearths. For me, the taste of dishes from these fireplaces comes from ‘back in the old days,’ from my childhood. We use various cooking techniques. For example, we cook meat, fish and olives directly in the ashes. This technique gives the dish more aroma and reveals the taste of the ingredients in greater depth," says Antonio Fresa.

A meter-wide pizza, its own cheese factory and an all-season terrace – close to the Savior on the Blood, Chef Antonio Fresa has opened the trattoria Marso Polo

The five main discoveries of spring: Marso Polo - this is how the Italian Antonio Fresa pronounces the "Field of Mars", next to which the establishment is located. Instead of the Giuseppe Park restaurant, the chef has opened a trattoria featuring his mother's recipes, meter-wide pizzas and an all-season covered terrace overlooking the Moika River and the Mikhailovsky Gardens.

... Antonio Fresa opened the new restaurant Marso Polo. This is a two-story trattoria with an all-season veranda near the Champ de Mars (previously there was a restaurant "Park Giuseppe"). The menu includes cuisine from the north of Italy: a dozen types of pastas, meter-long pizzas, and goulash, porchetta and spicy chicken are simmered around the clock in a Tuscan fireplace.

Two-story Italian restaurant-trattoria from Antonio Fresa Group. The menu from the Italian Antonio Fresa (Sea, Signora and Saviv) includes Tuscan cuisine, grilled meat and offal, 10 types of pasta and pizza from the oven (there are even options a meter in diameter). Quotes: Oxtail croquettes with truffle, spaghetti with green chili and lemon, pappardelle with wild boar, pizza with mozzarella, ricotta and prosciutto. The wine list includes Italian classics with an emphasis on Piedmont and Tuscany. In cocktails, special attention is paid to sprits, and in the menu of strong alcohol - digestives.