The Right Impulse

Chicken Breast (Photo By John Anderson)

Cafe Caprice

Tuesday-Sunday, 6-10pm

Caprice: noun; an impulsive change of mind

Longtime Barton Creek Country Club chef Paul Constantine left the comfort and security of a corporate chef position last year to strike out on his own for the first time. Constantine and his wife Joni pooled their resources and years' worth of hospitality experience and purchased the former Basil's restaurant in the summer of 2003. Constantine says he chose the name Cafe Caprice to indicate that his menu would change often, with the seasons, with the availability of fresh products, and, most of all, with the caprice of the chef. Don't confuse caprice with whimsy, or carelessness, however. The Cafe Caprice menu reflects a variety of international influences and true innovations, the work of a seasoned chef with plenty of creative tricks up his sleeve. Based on that and the restaurant's location in the very heart of Austin's downtown hotbed of creative, casual fine dining outlets, Constantine's new spot is a worthy addition to a lineup that already includes Wink, Castle Hill Cafe, and Zoot.

A group of friends joined me for dinner at Cafe Caprice on a recent holiday evening, and we discovered a menu with plenty of inviting choices. (For a reviewer obligated to make at least two visits to an eatery, it's a blessing when there are several choices in each category that look appealing.) Menu prices here range from $4-9 for appetizers, $14-24 for entrées, and the portions are generous. Though not large, the wine list is well-chosen, although it could use a few more selections by the glass to be competitive with similar restaurants in the neighborhood. We settled on two appetizers to share and were amply rewarded. The Shrimp and Grilled Corn Salad ($8.50) is a finely chopped affair in a garlic-studded lime cream, with the cool salad mounded atop thin, crisp tostones: a very tasty Caribbean nacho, if you will. The Duck Confit ($9) was another delightful choice, with rich slivers of duck on a sweet potato biscuit, complemented by a refreshingly crunchy pear walnut slaw and sweet/hot jalapeño peach preserves. All in all, an excellent balance of Texas fall flavors and textures.

Three of our entrée choices came from the evening's eclectic menu, and the other was a blackboard special. The special was comfort food of the finest kind, a roasted bone-in, skin-on Chicken Breast ($17) nestled on a generous portion of home fries and sautéed mushrooms in a luxurious sauce of heavy cream, fresh sage, and Asiago cheese. Another sure winner was the Pork Schnitzel ($19), ample slices of thin, tender pork in a crunchy pumpkin-seed crust on a bed of homemade spaetzle, seasoned red and green with spicy peppers. The Southwestern twist on a German standard offered robust warmth and spice, rather than direct heat -- very enjoyable. I chose the Rack of New Zealand Lamb ($23) with Moroccan barbecue sauce and a pyramid of Israeli pearl couscous. This dish proved to be the only glitch in two visits to Cafe Caprice. I ordered the lamb medium rare and it arrived with the meat still purple and cold in the center. Lucky for me, the chef happened to be in the dining room when I cut into the meat and realized I wouldn't be able to eat it. He took complete responsibility for the mistake, whisked the plate away, and had perfectly cooked lamb back at my place setting as quickly as was humanly possible, I'm sure. On any given night, mistakes like this can happen in any restaurant, anywhere. For a reviewer, ultimately it's not so much about the mistake itself as how it's handled by the staff. Here, the problem was minimized by the expert handling, and our meal progressed almost uninterrupted. When my plate returned, the lamb was very good, lathered in a piquant barbecue sauce with a pomegranate-syrup base. Unfortunately, the attractive pyramid of couscous was gummy, the only true misstep on an otherwise pleasant plate.

Our second early-evening visit to Cafe Caprice found a friend and I the only diners in the small, pleasant dining rooms. The interior of the cozy little cottage is now a pale green with simple, Asian-inspired accents, blond wood tables and chairs, and attractive light fixtures. We were pleased to see other parties drift in through the course of our meal. Dinner this evening started with a soup and an appetizer that caught my eye on the first visit. The Tomato Bisque ($5) was a voluptuous bowl of pale red velvet with just a hint of Pernod; the only thing missing was a cold night to do it real justice. Then there were the Hot Chick Pea Fries ($8) with smoked salmon, capers, and anchovy mayo. Even though it's very early in the year, this remarkable combination of temperatures, textures, and flavors is slated for my list of best savory bites. The dish is based on classic French panisse, batons of chick-pea flour fried in good olive oil. In Constantine's version, the hot little fries are served with cool slices of buttery smoked salmon, tangy capers, and a pungent anchovy mayonnaise. Don't miss this. Entrées that evening were a perfectly rendered 7-ounce Filet of Beef ($24) with dainty buttermilk-battered shallot rings, creamy mashers, and a luscious ruby-colored brandy peppercorn sauce, and the Grilled Vegetable Lasagna ($14) slathered with a distinctive anise marinara. Both items are worthy choices, and we'd order them again.

On each of our visits to Cafe Caprice, the service was friendly and knowledgeable, delivered by staff members who were familiar with the menu and capable of making informed suggestions about both food and wine. When it comes time to judge the service in a restaurant, I'd prefer to visit at least once when the dining rooms are packed and the operation is in full swing, to get a sense of how others are being served and to evaluate whether or not the restaurant runs on all cylinders, as it were. I was unable to do that here for a couple of reasons, partly because scheduling deadlines dictated I visit the restaurant during the week before and after New Year's when most restaurants are slow, and also because this new place it still somewhat of an undiscovered jewel. The next time you're looking for an innovative and satisfying meal downtown, indulge the impulse to try Cafe Caprice.