You won’t find turtle on the menu of Napoli Sea. I’m compelled to mention this likely unsurprising detail by the mural of a sea turtle that sprawls across one high wall of this 3-month-old seafood restaurant in St. Charles. I saw this turtle when I sat alone at Napoli Sea’s bar, and I saw this turtle when I sat with my children in the dining room. My children, who have watched “Finding Nemo†and “Finding Dory†more times than even Disney would advise, were delighted by the turtle. I felt judged and found wanting. I wasn’t eating one of his relatives, but he’d gone to high school with the Dover sole a server had precisely filleted for me on a tableside cart.
Napoli Sea is the latest venture from the Pietoso family, owners of Café Napoli in Clayton and its spinoffs Napoli 2 in Town and Country and Napoli III in St. Charles. The new restaurant debuted in June next door to Napoli III in the Streets of St. Charles, the development just off Interstate 70 that draws crowds for establishments both local (Mission Taco Joint, Sauce on the Side, Narwhal’s Crafted) and national (P.F. Chang’s, Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, Tucanos Brazilian Grill).
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From outside, by the parking-lot-as-town-square standard of the Streets of St. Charles, Napoli Sea is understated. Aside from a modest window display of fresh seafood on ice, you might mistake it for an extension of Napoli III. Its entrance is in the lobby of the mixed-use building it and Napoli III call home. The handle of its front door is a faux harpoon — your first sign Napoli Sea isn’t as understated as it seems.
On the wall opposite the giant turtle mural, a large video screen plays vivid underwater footage. (“I saw Nemo!†my 5-year-old exclaimed between bites of crisp calamari.) With this watery glow and decor including portholes and old-school diving helmets, Napoli Sea’s aesthetic resembles a 4K restoration of “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.†The claustrophobic and those still reeling from this year’s submersible implosion shouldn’t fret. Though the main dining room is compact — even cozy if you score one of its booths — the space is airy enough to feature a mezzanine dining area.
Servers navigate the dining rooms with trays displaying the day’s fresh catch and those tableside carts for filleting Dover sole and flambeeing a seafood risotto presented inside a wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano. The seafood tray appears at each table, plastic-wrapped examples of plump scallops and shrimp, gorgeous slabs of halibut, swordfish and ahi tuna and the dramatic splay, seldom seen these days, of the sole. (The specific seafoods will vary from visit to visit.)
The kitchen, overseen by executive chef Jon Berger, might specify preparation for the shrimp or ahi tuna. In general, though, you choose the piece of seafood and one of four sauces to accompany it. On one visit, I paired firm, meaty swordfish with a silky lemon beurre blanc; for the Dover sole, I picked the Livornese, a spicy tomato sauce with aggressively briny pops of caper and olive.
The fresh-catch tray and the tableside carts give Napoli Sea, that video screen notwithstanding, a distinctly throwback vibe. The kitchen reinforces this with the unimaginative but well-prepared sides of mascarpone-whipped potatoes and grilled asparagus that usually accompany your choose-your-own-seafood adventure. More broadly, the restaurant embraces unabashed opulence: market-price caviar; a 12-ounce strip steak of Australian wagyu beef for $105; a tower of shrimp, lobster, oysters and more for $260.
Yet I found myself more compelled by Napoli Sea’s modern touches. The kitchen electrifies a plate of chargrilled oysters with lemon juice and ‘nduja butter. The ceviche — bite-size bay scallops when I ordered it — delivers the expected citrusy brightness, but the avocado in the accompanying puree of avocado and yuzu underlines the scallops’ supple texture, giving the dish a satisfying heft.
Napoli Sea’s prices suggest the restaurant would have been comfortable charging customers for a roll stuffed only with lobster meat. Instead, the kitchen has crafted a chilled salad of lobster, crab and shrimp no less indulgent than a traditional lobster roll. With a side of Old Bay-seasoned fries, this also happens to be the menu’s best value.
Those seeking a more traditional approach to lobster can order twin cold-water tails with drawn butter. Pitched somewhere between the classic and the contemporary is lobster mac and cheese. This might not convert anyone who has dismissed this dish out of hand over the past 25 years or so, but it does offer the virtue of a generous portion of lobster meat among the noodles and sauce.
Napoli Sea outsources its desserts to another local restaurant, Sugar and Slice Bakery on Main on St. Charles’ historic Main Street. Based on the few bites of Sugar and Spice owner Lydia Allen’s chocolate-and-caramel cake I stole before my children devoured the rest, I think the Pietoso family made a smart decision to do so.
Where Napoli Sea, 1450 Beale Street, St. Charles • More info 636-800-2241; • Menu Seafood, pasta and steak • Hours Dinner daily