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Restaurant: The Italian Job

By Steve Price
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Apr 07, 2006, Page 15

Hang on lads, I've got a great idea for a restaurant. PHOTO: STEVE PRICE, TAIPEI TIMES

There's much more to Italian cuisine than pizza and calzone.

After carving a niche out of the local restaurant industry with the successful Alleycat's, South African expat Alan Pontes is on a new mission.

One door up from Pontes' distinguished first venture, which has made a name for itself as one of Taipei's top pizza joints, The Italian Job expands on a tried and tested formula: homemade Italian food at reasonable prices.

But why call it The Italian Job? The 1969 caper movie of the same name achieved a measured level of success on the weighty presence of Michael Caine: the reworked 2003 version set in Los Angeles with Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron raised merely a blip on film critics' radars.

"I wanted to call the restaurant something obviously Italian because we're not Italian. It's kind of a heist," said Pontes. "Not that we're crooks or anything."

Opened just three weeks, The Italian Job's decor follows the sparse minimalist school of restaurant design with whitewashed walls and stripped wooden floor, however, what it lacks in color it makes up for in atmosphere. The place is small, seating about 30, and as such escapes the vast white spaces and austerity that other larger establishments which follow the same decorative approach fall foul of.

The choice of dishes is not extensive, but does contain a good selection. The vegeteriano e formaggio antipasto (NT$240) included thick slices of tomato, pickled olives, creamy goat's cheese, artichoke hearts, strips of sun-dried tomato and grilled pepper. On its own this was enough for a light lunch.

Secondi piatti dishes at The Italian Job include lemon garlic prawns cooked in olive oil (NT$270), and grilled lamb chops marinated in rosemary, lemon and garlic (NT$320).

The most popular dish on the menu, parmesan chicken roll stuffed with mozzeralla topped with either marinara or parmesan sauce (NT$290), was a sophisticated combination of textures and flavors.

Despite being a new venture, the food, service and ambience at The Italian Job bear all the hallmarks of a well-established joint. It was a pity then that the restaurant's supplier of homemade ice cream had nipped off to Spring Scream to sell his wares without first sending supplies of chocolate, strawberry or vanilla gelato to the restaurant.
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