The new location for Fabrizio Goffi’s The Italian Job Restaurant and Pizzeria is at the front of the second floor of Plaza Novva, a few blocks behind Costco in El Tezal. Goffi has another Italian restaurant in the Irish Castle Inn in Pedregal and a third is on the way. My wife and I are big fans of Italian food but we had not been to The Italian Job before. Arriving at the hostess stand, there is a view of both the indoor and the outdoor seating at the restaurant. The front patio is covered and has a large pizza oven in the back corner. The front of the patio is all windows. We had made a reservation for air-conditioned indoor seating, which only offers about six tables as well as seating at the Oyster Bar. There is a large bar is at the back of the indoor dining room and the very large kitchen on the side. There is also a one-of-a-kind display of Clase Azul special bottles on a ledge above the Oyster Bar sign.

Our team of servers introduced themselves and we were offered the menu and asked what we would like to drink. Beth asked for a limonadaminerale and I chose a Diet Coke. We were offered a small complimentary bruschetta, which was delicious, as we perused the menu. We were also given a basket of fresh bread with a delightful olive oil and balsamic vinegar on the table.

The menu has appetizers, salads, a full range of pastas, fish, steak, and veal, and an extensive pizza menu. Beth and I decided to share a Caesar Salad to start. The menu said that it was made with the original 1924 menu that placed a sliced boiled egg on top, rather than just putting the egg yolks in the dressing. It was very good and the order was truly big enough to share and enjoy. Four our main courses, Beth selected the Gnocchi in a rose sauce and I ordered the Veal Scaloppine with a lemon and caper sauce (the other alternative was butter and sage). There was a special that day with a marsala sauce. There were six pieces of scaloppine covered in lemon sauce and capers and served with spinach. It was truly delicious and I took about half of it home. Beth said that her gnocchi was very good although the rose sauce was a little bitter. The meal was finished off with the Semifreddo, a kind of ice cream/mousse of black or white chocolate, with honey and heavy cream. Beth loved it. My high protein diet prohibited that I have more than a little taste!

The service was excellent. If we even looked toward one of the servers, there was someone at the table. Chef Fabrizio stopped at the table as we were enjoying the dessert to see how we liked our meal. We raved a talked a little about the restaurant and his future plans.