By Mark Goldberg

You realize it is not an old-world pasta parlor the moment you enter Vizio Café. This new star offers an innovative menu filled with such fascinating combinations as poached lobster in orange sauce, goat cheese patties over hash browns, and duck magret in a strawberry sauce.

The sleek, modern room is a mix of brushed metal and handsome two-tone woods. The waiting area is a comfortable living room, with couches and cocktail table. The kitchen is open and active, and the tables are comfortably spaced.

But what gains the most attention is Chef/Owner Israel Getzel’s approach to Italian cooking. Born and raised in Venezuela, he learned his kitchen techniques while working in his family’s catering business. Back home, his brother owns a popular Japanese restaurant. Yet Getzel chose Italian cuisine. “I like the Italian food,” he says, “because you can mix it with so many different things to create new dishes. The only traditional things in my food are the ingredients, to which I give a modern slant.

” That slant begins with a full page of chef’s specials: Escargot Provençal ($9.95) lightly sautéed with a mix of shallots, garlic, mushrooms, tomato and herbs de Provence, in a red wine sauce. Sharing the plate is a puff pastry filled with a warm chive-and-garlic infused cream. Another appetizer special, aragosta all’arancia ($10.95), takes lobster to a new height. Lightly poached chunks of tender lobster meat in a sweet and tart sauce of fish stock sautéed mushrooms and orange juice, are served with steamed asparagus and basil-dressed salad greens. A grilled light and creamy polenta wheel ­ polenta alla paesana ($7.95), is served with fresh asparagus and tomato concassé, and is ladled at the table with gorgonzola sauce, which allows the flavors to shine. The breading is barely noticeable in the fried calamari e zucchini croccanti ($8.95), a fritto misto of tender rings, crunchy zucchini and a subtle side of marinara dipping sauce.

Good homemade pastas
Pastas are homemade, as are all the breads and desserts. Ravioli Vizio ($11.95) is an enjoyable platter of plump pasta dumplings stuffed with pumpkin in an amazing mascarpone sauce, enhanced with cinnamon and ricotta salata. Linguine neri saporiti ($11.95) is a hearty squid ink pasta, rich with roasted red peppers, black olives, capers, basil and a touch of tomato concassé, to which Getzel adds tender rings of sautéed calamari. Another special, the mezzaluna di salmone ($13.95), stuffs a home-cured smoked salmon and dill mix into large half-moon ravioli, and dresses them with a red wine and cream sauce and a pinch more dill. While the dill turns the pasta a trifle green, it enhances the flavor of the dish without overpowering it.

Innovative entrees
Scaloppine terra e mare ($17.95) is a perfect marriage of sautéed veal scallops and grilled shrimp over a bed of mashed potatoes in a full-bodied Porto/pesto sauce. The crispy sweet potato frizz topping is an added treat. Dentice Portofino ($17.95), a pan-roasted yellowtail snapper fillet ­ actually more like an entire fish since both sides appear on the plate ­ is a simple dish with a smidgen of celery-root mash that does not get in the way of this fragrant, light pleasure, and rather complements the delicious shiitake white wine sauce.

When you can’t make up your mind, choose the grigliate bella Napoli ($17.95), a mixed grill of salmon and snapper fillets and fresh shrimp in a tomato/basil/red wine sauce. Both fish and seafood are moist and flavorful, accented by an arugula and endive salad, with a spicy guacamole-like avocado tucked within the endive leaves. Magret de canard ($18.95) spins breast of duck away from the typical orange sauce and onto a sweeter strawberry version. Thick sliced, crispy and almost without fat, the bird is presented over a shrimp-and-mushroom orzo.

Wonderful desserts
A chocolate soufflé headlines the dessert menu, as this sweet has become a veritable staple in more than just Italian restaurants. However, Getzel’s falling chocolate ($6.25) is more soufflé and less cake than any we can remember. And the gooey chocolate center is 100% Belgian dark chocolate, which continues to thicken nicely after running onto the plate. Vizio’s apple tart à la mode ($5.50) is a flaky pastry shell, sprinkled with sugar and stuffed with tart slices of cinnamony, browned apples, partnered with a scoop of dulce de leche ice cream. Cheesecake ($5.50), made with Gianduja white chocolate and an Amaretto crust, blended with hazelnut, Franjelica and Amaretto liqueurs, is a final treat that will continue to remind you, all the way home, that Vizio Café is indeed a sweet experience.

Mark Goldberg is a dining critic and a freelance copywriter.