Say ‘Ciao’ to the old and ‘Benvenuto’ to the new with a New Year’s celebration at Il Fornaio! The authentic Italian Ferry Landing hot spot is gearing up with a special menu, Festa Capodanno, known as the New Year’s Eve Party Menu. This menu will run December 28 through January 3 and will be in addition to the regular menu.
Festa Capodanno and New Year’s Eve Hours
Festa Capodanno will be comprised of carefully selected Italian dishes to celebrate New Year’s Eve. This includes steak and lobster options with comfortable pricing. Il Fornaio is excited to provide delightful choices that everyone in your party will enjoy.
This year, Il Fornaio will run their New Year’s Eve schedule until late evening and the kitchen will close at 10 pm. Luca, managing partner, shares, “We decided that we want to take the hours back a little bit and give it to our employees. This gives them an opportunity to celebrate with family and friends, and to enjoy the opening of the new year!” Luca says that the decision came after the COVID pandemic. “Those were challenging years and we needed to look at our employees a bit more deeply. We want to make sure they enjoy their life and it’s not all about work.” As a result, by having an earlier closing time, Luca is making sure all employees can easily be home by midnight to celebrate and not have to be on the roads after midnight.
2024 Updates
2024 holds some exciting plans for the Ferry Landing hot spot. Luca reveals, “The restaurant will go through remodeling. It has been in town for 25 years. We started with our bathroom a few weeks ago and we are looking at a kitchen remodel to happen next year. This will drastically change the idea of how we are supposed to serve. We will have more productivity and increased supply to the guests.” Another permanent change – the patios that were installed during COVID temporarily for dining, now have permits in the works, expanding access to more guests!
As far as menu changes, Il Fornaio mixes things up twice a year – April and October – to reflect seasonal changes. Luca shares that the prices are expected to remain the same in 2024 and they will absorb any additional wage costs that goes into effect.
The Italian Experience
Guests appreciate Il Fornaio for their truly authentic Italian food. Luca provides some insight into how they are able to bring Italy to Coronado. “This coming year we expect to continue working with the regional promotion. We go back to the old country in Italy and visit specific regions. We stay for three weeks in which everything is imported from Italy, from recipe to product to wine. Everything is needed to produce the dishes in the most authentic possible way. We give people the idea of how the food actually tastes where we come from. We visited Sicily, we visited Tuscany, we visited central Italy, northern Italy. People find that very interesting because it’s very unique.”
As far as the most popular items, Rigatoni Alla Vodka tops the list. However, all of their homemade pasta win bragging rights – Tagliatelle Bolognese, Casarecce Alla Norcina, and Fusilloni are delectable.
The New Age of Dining
Luca shares there has been a change in the type of guests coming in and the experience they are looking for. “We have an increasing number of appetizers to satisfy more of the social entertaining of the new generation. People are using the restaurant more often than before and they come in casually. You gather with friends and maybe enjoy sharing things around. They get off the stress of their work day. They are able to go home and be much more enjoyable and relaxed for the rest of the evening. Happy Hour is a standard on the island – Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 pm.” Understanding what guests want, Luca says that they hope to have the patio permits by spring, especially for the happy hour crowd to enjoy their food with the beautiful view.
Il Fornaio is located at 1333 First Street, Coronado
Edited 12/19/2023 to update dates of the special menu.
