There are a small number of restaurants in the Geyserville area, and while I do have my favorite, sometimes I’m really eager to try something different. Because of this, I booked us into Catelli’s when we were staying the night nearby. It’s a third-generation family owned Italian, and people seem to rave about it, so I was really excited about heading here for a fantastic Italian dinner.
I’m glad I booked, as there was quite a lot of people waiting for a table when we arrived, but we bypassed everyone waiting and were shown directly to our seats. The decor is slightly dated, as it feels a bit like a throwback to what 80s fine dining would be. The wine list was pretty good, and we decided on a 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon from Soda Rock, a nearby winery that we like. It wasn’t outrageously priced which was a bonus, and we definitely ended up enjoying it quite a bit. As we had been out doing a long day of wine tasting, we definitely needed something quick in our stomachs as well, so we decided to get some truffle fries ($11) as something to nibble on while we decided on the rest of our food.
Truffle fries 
Meatball sliders
I was definitely leaning toward the meatball sliders ($16) as another nibble, and we were thinking about ordering a few more starters and share a main for the meal. However, right before we could order, they changed the pasta of the day to a rabbit ravioli which sounded absolutely amazing, so instead we ordered that and the clam, prawn and spicy sausage saute ($25).
By now the truffle fries had arrived, and we dug right in. I honestly couldn’t taste any truffle flavor at all, and it was quite disappointing. The fries weren’t really that exciting at all, but the bread served with homemade sun-dried tomato butter was pretty great. When the sliders arrived, they looked pretty fantastic, but again, there was a severe lack of flavor with the sausage in the meatball and the tomato sauce tasted almost as if it had come from a jar. There just wasn’t enough seasoning at all.
Rabbit ravioli 
Clam, prawn and sausage saute with garlic bread
When the ravioli arrive, it also looked fantastic, and I’m a huge fan of rabbit. To be honest, it was probably the best dish of the night, but there wasn’t much balance to it at all. The sauce was overwhelmingly lemony and it really needed something to counteract the acidity of it. The saute was very disappointing, as most of the seafood was overcooked and metallic tasting. The sausage was nice, but the sauce itself was similar to the sauce on the meatballs as it lacked that depth of flavor that I love about Italian cooking. It really did feel like what Americans think Italian food should be instead of something that I would have eaten on a trip to Italy.
Not one to pass up dessert, I decided to order the daily crumble which was rhubarb and a layered tiramisu-like dessert with strawberries and basil. The crumble was not what I was expecting with an incredibly dense and chewy topping (not crunchy at all), and there was way too much of the topping as well. It was probably one of the worst crumbles I’ve eaten. The strawberry dessert was equally as bad as it was all very soft and heavy without a lot of flavor. Sadly, both of them really could use a lot of work.
Crumble 
Strawberry tiramasu-like dessert
I left Catelli’s feeling very let down. I love to support family run local businesses, but many of the plates of food were lacking a lot of flavor. I’m no expert in Italian cooking, but I’ve managed pasta dishes with far more flavor than what we were served. While we had some outstanding, attentive service, the food quality would not have me returning at all.
Score: 2/5
Recommendation: Stop in for a glass of wine perhaps?
Catelli’s
21047 Geyserville Ave.
Geyserville, CA 95441
