Marin IJ Review

Marin Independent Journal

New chef brings grass-roots food to The Caprice
Leslie Harlib
04/06/2006

http://www.marinij.com/dining/ci_3680664

A CAPRICE IS a whim, a sudden impulse, a desire. It's a playful word that, in a restaurant name, implies a fanciful, lighthearted dining experience.
In many ways, culinary caprice is exactly what The Caprice, a Tiburon fixture for 45 years, is all about. The smallish, high-priced menu is about French/California cuisine that manifests the philosophy and personality of the chef behind it.
For more than eight years, executive chef Carl Peschlow ran the restaurant; he left two years ago to purchase and run the Sweden House Bakery in downtown Tiburon.
Following Peschlow's departure, The Caprice (owned by Chong Cook of Tiburon and San Francisco) has been through several changes of executive chef. In autumn 2005, the kitchen settled down under the bright young toque of Gregg Sessler, formerly of Marche aux Fleurs in Ross and the Mountain Home Inn in Mill Valley.
Sessler's turning out seasonal menus that emphasize sustainably grown produce from local farms and farmers markets. He uses free-range meats and wild-caught seafood as much as possible.
Prices are still high; expect to spend $9 to $18 for an appetizer and $23 to $30 for a main dish. What you're paying for, in addition to top-notch ingredients cooked to showcase their natural flavor, is location. Downtown Tiburon is one of Marin's gold coasts. The Caprice sits on a jut of land overhanging the bay, with spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Angel Island. The site alone must be worth millions.


That said, how to think of a restaurant like The Caprice? Yes, it's fine dining. It's not fancy, however. There's a simpleness, a cleanliness to the space and to the experience that's devoid of the unctuous or stentorian approach to food that I often find in restaurants pitching haute cuisine. I love The Caprice's freshness. Huge windows offer great views no matter where you sit. An inviting fire near the entrance is welcoming, especially on a rainy night. Tables are cloaked in thick white linens, then dressed with heavy flatware, large, delicate wine glasses, fresh flowers. The experience is pure class without fuss.
Even the servers match the d}cor. They're friendly without intrusion. Ours was well aware of what went into each menu item when we asked for details. She made a point of finding out where the tender, piping hot, delicately crusted rolls came from (they were so good, so, well, feminine, we had to know if they were baked in-house). She would unobtrusively check back to see how we're doing, but never hovered - professional in a well-oiled way.
Was I as impressed with the food as with the service? I did enjoy my one recent dinner. Overall, it was a fun meal, as well as a filling one. There were elements that I loved, such as those rolls, and an amuse bouche (a little mouth surprise) from the chef of a slice of house-smoked steelhead trout on a homemade potato chip with a dab of green garlic cr me fraiche. But was it a good enough meal to go down in my memory annals of fine Marin dining?
There were moments. I did find the farmer's market vegetable risotto ($23) one of the best I've ever had. I normally don't order risottos, finding them, typically, overpriced oatmeal for adults. Sessler's, however, was an art project. Perfectly moist grains of Italian rice soaked up sweet butter and Parmesan cheese flavor, annealing into a creamy, soothing and savory porridge. The rice was liberally punctuated with baby carrots, asparagus as thin as embroidery thread, slivers of broccoli and fresh peas. Each piece of vegetable was big enough to make every bite distinct and a little different, which was great. Truffle oil, added as a finish, perfumed the whole dish with earthiness and complexity. I'd go back just for this, with a glass of wine.
In retrospect, what resonated most with me, was The Caprice's seasonality of foods and the excellent quality of the ingredients. In terms of layers of flavor, depth, or "wow" factor, I've had more complex experiences in some neighborhood Thai restaurants. But Sessler and his staff turn out beautiful plates, and certainly this restaurant is a lovely place to spend a festive evening out.
Of the starters, we were intrigued by saut}ed rosemary prawns ($13) with roast treviso (a type of radicchio) stuffed with Bella Sorrela cheese and prosciutto. What arrived were two plump, sweetly grilled prawns resting on salty, robust rolls of meat, cheese and caramelized leaf. The combination was at once sophisticated and accessible. If I were watching a French art film in someone's chateau I might like a bucket of these to snack on in lieu of popcorn.
More ordinary was a salad of baby dandelion greens ($10) with blood orange emulsion, hazelnuts and fromage blanc. It sounded intriguing, yet came across as flat. The dandelion leaves were so young, large and tender, they tasted like spinach doing a mild imitation of Marlon Brando in "The Wild One." There were fewer hazelnuts than fingers on my hands and just a couple of dollops of cheese. To be Scroogy about prices, we got much better value from the prawn starter.
An entr}e of butter poached shellfish ($30) was a beautiful plate of food. A tangle of fat, homemade-tasting pappardelle, mild and filling, bristled with mussels, clams, shrimp, a couple of fat day-boat scallops (boy, were they clean-tasting), tender fava beans, strips of spring onion and lots of fresh peas. The sauce whispered mildly, and sparingly, of cream, wine and an overabundance of fresh herbs. This mixture is really about the taste of the shellfish. Complexity was in the visuals, not the flavors.
Of the meats, an order of roasted Maple Leaf Farm duck breast ($27) was attractively presented as a fan of medium-rare, rosy poultry, balanced by saut}ed broccolini, cipollini onions softened into an umber marmalade and a maple-tinged sweet potato pancake. In theory, this combo sounded terrific. In reality I found the dish too sweet. If you can eat an oxymoron, this would be it: a dessert of savory components that should have balanced each other more dramatically than they did.
Other menu choices: Dungeness crab and Maine lobster bisque ($8); seared yellow fin tuna with grilled citrus-infused sushi rice, avocado and mache; New Bedford day-boat scallop with Anna potatoes, Swiss chard, sunchoke and pancetta puree ($27); roast rack of venison with Bloomsdale spinach and fennel potato gnocchi ($32); and Washington steelhead al mattone with fiddlehead fern and Easter radish salad, roast shallot dressing ($26).
More sweet flavor than I prefer also characterized two desserts ($9 and $10). Orange tuiles, ultra-thin cookies rolled into crackly tubes and stuffed with citrus cream, sounded refreshing, but were candylike in their sugary intensity. Scharffen-Berger chocolate was at the heart of a molten chocolate cake that in texture was gloriously oozy and looked suitably dark. Again, though, it had just enough sugar flavor to neuter the bitterness I long for in this type of confection.
Caprice's wine list offers eight vintages by the glass. In keeping with the emphasis on local ingredients, all the wines are from California. The two-page list of bottles ranges in price from $21 to $460; most are under $100.
Frankly, I was surprised at the list's skimpiness. Many Marin restaurants, even neighborhood hang-outs, are getting downright exciting when it comes to wine. They offer 20 or more vintages by the glass, along with flights, and even 2-ounce pours, so experimenting with wine and food becomes an integral part of dining out. By contrast, Caprice's program seems behind the times - especially given the restaurant's contemporary and heartfelt commitment to freshness, locality and playfulness when it comes to food.
The Caprice may be holding on so tightly to its 45-year legacy it's missing the boat on embracing the 21st century. Sessler as chef, with his imagination and grass-roots intentions, is a good choice; I have no doubt he will flourish and become increasingly skillful over time. I'd like to see a friendlier range of wines and find a menu that makes it easier to come in and have a glass of wine and a small plate to sample what's new. Some diners might have a hard time committing to $160 dinner for two if it's not a special occasion - or they've never tried the restaurant before.
I look forward to seeing how this venerable Marin fine dining restaurant will evolve under Sessler's enthusiastic stewardship.

Review
The Caprice
Address: 2000 Paradise Drive, Tiburon
Phone: 435-3400
Web site: www.thecaprice.com
Cuisine: French/California cuisine
Service: Well-trained, attentive, friendly
Recommended dishes: Saut}ed rosemary prawn with grilled treviso lettuce, prosciutto and Bella Sorrela cheese; farmer's market vegetable risotto; butter-poached shellfish with pappardelle, fava beans, spring onions, English peas
Liquor selection: Full bar, two-page wine list
Heart-healthy and vegetarian selections: Yes
Parking: Free nearby street parking
Wheelchair access: Yes
Hours: Mondays to Thursdays starting at 5:30 p.m.; Fridays through Sundays starting at 5 p.m.