Review of The Italian Job Cafe Oxnard CA

(photos by Chris Jensen)
As Published in the VC Reporter

The Italian Job Cafe -- you'll leave wanting more
By D.K. Crawford 04/22/2010

The Italian Job Cafe 
2810 Harbor Blvd.
Oxnard 832-4945
$4.95-17.95

From the moment we walked through the door, The Italian Job Café was uplifting. Smells of freshly baked bread scented the room, sunshine streamed through the windows, Italian music filled our ears, and we were greeted with open, genuine smiles by not one, but all the people working there.

When scrutinized, the cantaloupe and British-green color scheme combined with the glossy dark wood furniture felt partially like a tearoom, partially like an English pub. The space between the tables was a little tight, and the green ceiling above us felt a little low but, ultimately, these nuances disappeared because the overall ambience was so elevating.

The Italian Job Café is owned by a husband and wife team who had their first restaurant in Rhode Island. Upon moving to L.A., they were forced to evacuate twice because of the Malibu fires and fled up the coast. It was then that they discovered Oxnard’s beaches and lifestyle and started planning their move.

Fabrizio, from the Italian island of Sardinia, is the warm, sincere, Italian half of “The Job,” who runs the kitchen while Alison, originally from Yorkshire, England, works the front of the house, sprinkling happiness with an almost fairy godmotheresque charm.

Both my companion and I found the menu appealing. Classic lasagna or spaghetti with homemade, tender meatballs were tempting, but then so were more unusual offerings like the lentil pancetta soup, the roasted portobello, white bean, goat cheese and spinach salad, or the fresh whitefish filet with a horseradish pistachio crust. The menu was also peppered with colorful European vernacular like strozzapreti (“priest-stranglers”), a gnocchi dish and bistecca, a New York steak served with “bubble and squeak” potatoes.

Ultimately, we chose a small salad, a pizza, a pasta and salmon dish to sample. While we waited, a breadbasket appeared with saucers of buttery olive oil and a small silver carafe of balsamic. The warm, herbed focaccia with its light crust tasted as good as it smelled.

As our salad arrived, I overheard the owner Alison talking to other customers. When they asked about making a substitution on the menu, she replied in her peppy Northern England accent, “If we’ve got the ingredients, we’ll make it!” This restaurant aims to please. Later, I heard the same man proclaim to his friend upon exiting, “This should become the busiest place in town.”

Our Caesar salad was so fresh it could have been grown at the table. The lettuce was cool and crunchy with small toasted croutons. My companion described it best as “delicate.” The lightly dressed salad had the slight heat of garlic, the sweet of romaine hearts, the creaminess of the yolky, authentic Caesar dressing and the salty hit of Parmesan. We also tasted the slightest hint of anchovy. “It’s as though the anchovy was lightly dragged over the lettuce a few times,” he joked, then he said it was the best Caesar he’s ever had.

Our bianca pizza arrived with cracker-thin edges. It featured mozzarella, goat and blue cheese with caramelized onions, Italian ham, fresh herbs and white pepper. The center was soft and melty, and the sides were crisp. The combination of cheeses was done with such a discriminating hand that you got the hint of goat and hint of blue. They married well and complemented the hit of fresh rosemary and ruffled Parma ham underneath. The sweetness of the onion completed it. It, too, was delicate, the kind of pizza you can eat at lunch without feeling stuffed.

The tortelloni di zucca featured sweet puréed pumpkin and ricotta pasta with the “slightest touch of amaretto,” according to Fabrizio. The sauce was a remarkable saffron hue of creamy tomato and pesto with diced fresh tomatoes.

The flavor combination of this dish was addictive. The basil, tomato and pumpkin flavors combined to create this new layer of taste that had me rethinking the role of a tomato as fruit.

The almond-crusted salmone mandorle was served on a bed of pesto fettuccine with sautéed fresh spinach. The ground almond crust on the fish was not lightly crunchy as I’d hoped, but the chef later explained that the piece of fish he’d chosen was a thinner tail section and he didn’t want to overcook it. I would certainly rather have perfectly cooked fish with a less crisp crust. My companion quite liked it, but for me the other dishes were superior.

Fabrizio came out and introduced himself at the end of the meal as Alison had at the beginning. He showed me some of the dinner specials he’d recently served: gnocchi with artichokes and sage butter appetizer and a half-moon ravioli entree with wild mushrooms and sweet corn. Mostly, he likes simple flavors, especially at lunch.

“The Job” serves gelato and sorbetti imported from Italy and desserts like an Italian bittersweet chocolate mousse cake and torta della nonna, a Tuscan grandmother lemon and pine nut pie. There is also get a spumoni gelato on Saturdays but it sells out fast!

As we shared bites of pomegranate, hazelnut and English trifle gelato (that tastes like zabaione or eggnog), we realized we’d been there for more than two hours! Dessert was sweet but the whole experience was sweeter. Part of me wants to keep this restaurant a secret; it’s that lovely.

www.thefoodsavant.blogspot.com

Cooking With Your Sixth Sense

We all have those moments when something or someone taps us on the shoulder and tries to get our attention. Sometimes it's as simple as a nudge that you might need to bring a sweater to an event; other times you get life-changing messages like you shouldn't get on a particular plane or trust what someone is telling you. These instinctual flashes happen with cooking too. Paying attention to these momentary insights can mean the difference between a euphoric dining experience and a disaster.

I personally should ALWAYS listen to the little Chef Boyardee in my head who tries to save me. I may not remember every time I adjusted a recipe because my inner voice told me to but I can sure remember almost every disaster that occurred when I didn't! They are fun to laugh at later but they might leave you hungry for the night!

There was the night of the Roasted Banana and Salted Caramel Ice Cream that turned out so salty I wanted to drink a gallon of water after a few bites! I remember measuring out the salt thinking, "really?" and then I thought "well, their pictures look delicious, surely they know what they're doing!"

Another near disaster came with a Jamaican Jerk Marinade Recipe. "Wow, that sounds like a lot of habaneros and a lot of vinegar." At 1/9th the amount of habanero pepper they suggested, the recipe left everyone who tried it in tears. And the vinegar? Oh my! Luckily I was making several batches of the marinade so I saved the fire/vinegar batch on the side as I adjusted the rest and added bits of that first batch at the end to the larger batch. I added it slowly mind you because it was still too strong to just throw it all in!

I have over-stirred rice dishes, breaking the grain, because a recipe told me and basically made mushalaya rather than jambalaya. I have made lead belly ice cream that consisted of nothing but yolks and heavy cream. Countless times I have over sweetened something by following a recipe. To my taste, the world of baking can often be cut in half sugar-wise. Too much sugar and my tongue goes catatonic. I can't taste other flavors, I don't want to eat much of it, I bounce off the walls and want to fall into a large coma-esq nap in an hour. But that's more of a general taste issue with me and baking rather than a horrible misprint on the cook's part.

My cousin who helped edit "Square Table" which has won numerous awards said each of the recipes in the book were tested by three independent cooks and graded before they made it in the book. She kept a box on her front porch and the testers would show up, take the recipes home and return them with their marks. That's certainly the 'ideal' way to write a book or publish recipes.

With the ever-growing need for content and fast publishing chefs, bloggers, home-cooks and others, there will be more and more mistakes in content and recipes. If you're anything like me, you like to "try out new recipes" for a party. It's a fun challenge for me and lets me enjoy something new as well at dinner. But again, this is asking for disaster unless you really key into your inner voice that's saying "that much sugar? really? salt it again? more chipotle?"

The key is to try to allow enough grace to move slowly through new recipes and listen deeply. If any flags do arise and you have the time, you can always adjust. You may try adding a bit of the recommended ingredient to a bite of what you're making or stir in the large-seeming proportion in smaller bits. Staying attuned to the sounds, smells and tastes of what's cooking can also help you notice when something is done before the time a recipe recommends.

Have you experienced disasters with recipes from a cookbook or that you've gotten online? Have you had moments where your instincts have told you not to add as much of something or to omit something entirely and you have or haven't listened?

As cooking is like art to me I tend to get the basic underpinnings of a recipe to give it a foundation, like the basic techniques that make it work and the chemistry needed for success if I am baking, but then I turn creative and often ad lib to get where I am going. If I don't write down what I am doing at that moment, it will surely be lost for later. I love cooks who keep cookbooks and pens nearby in the kitchen and mark through problem areas, turn down corners and put starts on things that work! Those are treasures passed down from grandparents and mothers that will never steer you wrong! I need to get that organized so I will not have to reinvent recipes each time anew. Then again, maybe I like doing some of that :).

Would love to hear your experiences.

Note Added: Cookbook recall due to typo. This ingredient managed to offend a population rather than simply ruining a dish, read on!!