You can’t hide it: when you visit a newly opened place for the first time, especially just a few days after the opening, you can’t avoid feeling a bit nervous, especially if that place has already set the bar of expectations pretty high with a promising kitchen lineup.

The opening of Il Tocco Ristorante was anticipated by a straightforward online campaign and some uncovered details I could catch from Andrea Cavaliere, the chef, and Cristian Ruocco, the pizza man, pages.

The wait killed me and my good intentions to wait until the restaurant would have finished the warm-up round.

I went there three days after the soft opening – and only because I couldn’t before.

The location is fabulous. There has been massive restoration work compared to the previous venue, and the new settings have been worked out in detail: the kitchen on the open counter with several stations is mesmerizing. Comfortable chairs, golden reflexes, lemons on the ceiling.

The menu offers something for all tastes. What we ordered: I had the red gambas crudo and the tuna fish coated in pistachio and served with caponata, while Mr. had clams as a starter and fried fish as the main course. We were also offered a pizza with pistachio and mortadella – which we ended up taking away. Little C had pappa al pomorodo. Mr. could not leave without dessert, so in the end, we shared a baba with limoncello and amarene.

I am sure the pictures already spoke before my words: the food – all of it – was delicious. Simple, with great ingredients, mains were generous in size, satisfying our appetites and amazing our taste buds. Nothing overdone in useless decorations, the quality of the raw materials speaks for itself, reversing the common dichotomies of average Lux restaurants – like fries served in any way.

I could eat the crudo another ten times in a row without getting bored probably.

Not fine dining, but a perfect, genuine, generous Italian cuisine at a high level.

I mentioned the location, I mentioned the food. The offer, as said, is wide: Il Tocco is the kind of place you can leave with a bill of 50 euros or with a bill of 1,000 euros. This is up to you, and it might also depend on your drink choices. The wine menu, like the food, has a wide price range and invites you to take a bottle even if you have a small budget – we had a great Pecorino from Colline Pescaresi that would definitely not break the bank.

Also, the service, despite the first days, was more than fine. Sometimes a bit hectic, but always attentive and extremely kind.

It’s worth mentioning that the place is big, compared to the average Luxembourg standards, and as such, it is vibrant and full of life. Which also means it’s kinda noisy, not in a negative sense, but rather tailored to suit the target audience.

I would definitely go back and highly recommend it – not for a first date, but more for a dinner with friends or before a night out.