Chef Antonio Fresa’s trattoria is housed in a pavilion in the Mikhailovsky Gardens. An iconic location by the Savior on the Blood Church, and St. Petersburg’s gastronomic maestro, the founder of Sea, Signora, Saviv, Saviv Moscow and Fresa’s.
The Italian restaurant Marso Polo has two floors, a historic building and an all-season terrace. It also comprises its own cheese factory, two wood-fired pizza ovens and a fireplace with a grill for meat and seafood.

MARSO POLO’S MENU INCLUDES A TUSCAN GRILL AND OVER 10 TYPES OF PIZZAS RANGING IN SIZE FROM 28 CM TO A METER

Among the antipasti there are oxtail croquettes with truffle, the pastas include rare spaghettini with green chili and lemon. The recipes of Antonio Fresa’s mother are lovingly prepared on the grill – Incoronata Palma, including stewed goulash (for 12 hours!) and porchette. From Lombard soup to a kilo of tiramisu: Italy, at Marso Polo, means artistry and craftsmanship honed over generations.
For Antonio Fresa dedicateing a restaurant to the cuisine of Italy in a homely, warm interpretation has been a joyous experience. He was born by the sea, in Puglia, but from the age of twelve he lived in the north of the country, in the heart of Tuscany. At Marso Polo, he has collected his favorite recipes from these regions: he chose the northern style — hearty dishes with an emphasis on meat, from meatballs to Milanese cutlets, but he has also complemented them on the menu with seafood and sunny Sicilian recipes.
Two Morello Forni wood-burning ovens make pizzas of three sizes: round, with a diameter of 28 centimeters, half a meter with two different flavors to choose from and a meter-long variant boasting four flavors. For example, a group can order and share the Tonno Cippolo with Sicilian tuna and Yalta onion, the Parmigiana with eggplant cream, the Formaggi Nostri with mozzarella, ricotta and prosciutto, and a Margherita with tomatoes and basil.

The Marso Polo trattoria launches Italian breakfast menu

Antonio Fresa makes Italian-style breakfasts on a Tuscan grill in the restaurant’s pavilion in the Mikhailovsky Gardens: until 14:00 (from 9:00 on weekdays and 10:00 at the weekend) you can try fried eggs with artichokes, baked pudding made with ricotta matured at the restaurant’s own cheese factory and fresh Camparis mixed with black pepper. Anchovy omelets, croissant with nduja sausage, tigelle with stracciatella and culatello – as always with Antonio, the quality (and quantity!) of the delicacies is never compromised.
The lead among the sweet dishes on the breakfast menu is taken by fresh ricotta from the creamery located on-site at Marso Polo: it’s whipped with peach confiture to make a baked pudding with seasonal berry jams, Smetana and lemon zest. Coffee with Italian Moak Servito blends mixed in Sicily, blackberry Frappuccino or Espresso Tonic tonic with honey water, Prosecco or Bellini Pesco with peach puree – whatever you treat yourself to in the morning at Marso Polo, your day will be a wonderful voyage with a fair wind behind you.

Antonio

Fresa

For Antonio Fresa, dedicating a restaurant to the cuisine of the north of Italy, with all manner of meatballs and other meat delicacies, has been a delight. As a native of Puglia, he regards San Giovanni Valdarno, a town in the heart of Tuscany, to which he moved with his family when he was twelve and where his tastes were formed, as his second homeland.