San Francisco Chronicle Dining Update May 25, 2006

DINING UPDATE
The Caprice
Michael Bauer
Thursday, May 25, 2006

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/25/NSG70J0NGR1.DTL

Views and great food are generally mutually exclusive. Many places, such as the Waterfront on the Embarcadero and the Carnelian Room 52 stories above the Financial District, have tried, but something always seems to go haywire. If President Bush wanted to make his administration really useful, he'd commission a study to find out why this happens, thus ending his term on a useful note.
The Caprice in Tiburon, which opened in 1963 but has been under different ownership for the past decade, certainly has the views. It overlooks Angel Island, Sausalito and San Francisco. Yet in my 20 years in the Bay Area, I've found the kitchen to be as choppy as the waters outside the picture windows.
Until now. Maybe it won't last, but chef Gregg Sessler, who has been onboard since October, has crafted a menu that can stand up to the big boys.
A recent night's meal started with escargot ($14), which hasn't been seen on many menus since the 1960s, when the Caprice opened and many of the current patrons were placing their children in school. Like the interior, which features large windows right on the water, the 80-seat dining room and the crowd looks like something from a fancy cruise ship. One woman had what could easily have been a $200,000 strand of pearls around her neck, and another was wearing a diamond so big I'd swear it could guide fogbound ships into port.
Sessler gives the snail a 21st century twist with hen-of-the-wood mushrooms that camouflage the snails like a forest, brightened with green herb beurre blanc. There are also a couple of quarter-size puddles of garlic foam that perfume the place like Gilroy.
Sessler adds an unexpected note to shrimp ($13), skewering them on a sprig of rosemary beside two crisscrossed bouquets of grilled treviso wrapped in salty prosciutto and Bella Sorela, a raw-milk cow's cheese that imparts a pleasant creaminess. Underneath, the plate is drizzled with an artistic swirl of green olive oil and rich, sweet balsamic vinegar.
Other appetizers include Hog Island oysters with Gewurztraminer sorbet ($14) and a simple, delightful salad of baby head lettuces ($10) with asparagus, shaved radish, fromage blanc, almonds and green onion vinaigrette.
The eight main courses include venison rack ($32). The two ribs are seared to form a substantial crust, roasted, cut in two and splayed over a molded disk of pancetta and sage-scented hash brown potatoes, then covered with a dense mat of spinach.
Pan-roasted halibut ($29) is sprinkled with fennel pollen and arranged on a raft of pencil-thin asparagus and pontoons of roasted purple potatoes. Leeks and preserved lemon add complexity to the already enticing blend.
Sessler also creates shellfish saute with asparagus and pea risotto ($30), roast duck breast with braised potatoes and black truffle vinaigrette ($27), and a special vegetarian option with pasta, asparagus, wild nettles and chervil almond pesto ($23).
The chef is cooking at a three-star level, but the desserts tarnish the impression: They're simplistic and don't seem worth the price. The ice creams and sorbets ($9 for three) -- we had banana and blueberry sorbet and vanilla ice cream -- were fine if you wanted something sweet, but served in three little ramekins on a larger plate, they looked pedestrian. The pound cake tower ($9) was more like a walk-up. The small, dry square was cut into three thin slices with a few berries and whipped mascarpone sandwiched in between.
Other options include a chevre cheesecake ($9) and the expected warm chocolate ganache cake ($10). The choices and execution made me wonder why a kitchen takes such pains to hit a home run on the savory courses and then walks on dessert.
Service could use a little sharpening to compete, too. While the staff is pretty good at describing the menu and getting the food to the table in a timely fashion, the waiters miss the finer points. For example, when one patron got up to go to the bathroom and dropped her napkin on the floor without noticing, instead of replacing it, the waiter simply scooped it up and dropped it in a heap on the table in front of her chair.
Yet even with the mistakes, it's easy to imagine that with a little more effort, Caprice could be the place that disproves the maxim. Maybe we won't need Bush's help after all.
Michael Bauer, mbauer@sfchronicle.com
2000 Paradise Drive (near Mar West), Tiburon; (415) 435-3400. Dinner
5:30-9:30 p.m. nightly. Full bar.
Reservations and credit cards accepted. Free lot and complimentary valet
parking on weekends.


Overall: TWO AND A HALF STARS
Food: TWO AND A HALF STARS
Service: TWO STARS
Atmosphere: THREE STARS
Prices: $$$$
Noise Rating: TWO BELLS
RATINGS KEY
FOUR STARS: Extraordinary
THREE STARS: Excellent
TWO STARS: Good
ONE STAR: Fair
(box): Poor

($) Inexpensive: entrees $10 and under
($$) Moderate: $11-$17
($$$) Expensive: $18-$24
($$$$) Very Expensive: more than $25
Prices area based on main courses. When entrees fall between these
categories, the prices of appetizers help determine the dollar ratings.

ONE BELL: Pleasantly quiet (under 65 decibels)
TWO BELLS: Can talk easily (65-70)
THREE BELLS: Talking normally gets difficult (70-75)
FOUR BELLS: Can only talk in raised voices (75-80)
BOMB: Too noisy for normal conversation (80+)

Chronicle critics make every attempt to remain anonymous.
All meals are paid for by the Chronicle.
Star ratings are based on a minimum of three visits.
Ratings are updated continually based on a least one revisit.