Cafe Capriccio - Albany

[jaylhorner]

Dined at Cafe Capriccio last night after a long hiatus. Sorry I've been away so long! Just added this classic to my current list of favorites. Expensive evening, but well worth it. Very attentive staff complementing excellent food.

[markabauman]

Long time local classic. I believe they may be running a 3-course fixed price special for their anniversary-think I saw the mention in Metroland. Not sure of the price, but seemed reasonable with some good choices.

[jaylhorner]

$25.00 - 25th anniversary

[financialdistrictresident]

Thanks for the report, jaylhorner. We go often and I'm thinking about the duck tagliatelle right now . . .

[Cachetes]

We went to Café Capriccio recently. The visit confirmed for me why this is my favorite restaurant in the greater Albany area. I enjoy Chianti’s for what it offers, but Café Capriccio just feels right to me when I walk in. There were four of us, we were seated promptly, hinting at what was excellent, relaxed service throughout the entire evening. We started with cocktails, and then moved on to appetizers. Though I am not usually eager to eat beets, for some reason their beet salad with potatoes and gorgonzola jumped out at me, so I (and one other person) ordered it. I had faith that Café Capriccio would serve something interesting, and it did not disappoint. With a white vinegar and olive oil marinade, it was served over a bed of greens, and was a highlight of the evening. The flavors were perfectly balanced and the dish was extremely well composed. My husband had the mussels, and he said that they were cooked perfectly - just a couple of minutes. The fourth in our party had a simple salad that came with the Prix Fixe, and he enjoyed it a lot.

For the second course, I split the ravioli special (which had a goat cheese and I think ricotta filling, topped with a sauce that had sundried tomatoes, light cream, and a few other ingredients) and the wild boar ragout served over tagliatelle. I don’t typically order ravioli, and last night didn’t dissuade me from making that choice in the future. They were cooked perfectly - left very al dente - which I appreciated, but I think I am just not a ravioli person. My dining companion with whom I shared them is a ravioli person, and she stated that they were excellent. The wild boar ragout was very good. I enjoyed this much more than the ravioli, though I’m glad we split a half-order. The highpoint of this course was the calamari neri. My husband ordered it, and it was great. It had a light squid flavor, and finished off with a very pleasing smokiness. I loved it, and easily could have eaten a whole order myself.

For the main, I had the eggplant with four cheeses (eggplant capriccioso). Again, excellent. This sounds nitpicky, but I would have liked if the spinach in it were a bit more tender, but otherwise I really enjoyed it, and thought the cheese combination was unique and delicious. My husband had the osso bucco, and thought it was superb - really enjoyed the marrow. Other companions had pork (can’t remember the sauce, but she said it was very delicious and unusual) and a simpler pasta dish (Filetto di Pomodoro alla Genovesi), which he enjoyed.

Wine was a chianti which we chose solely because of its backstory. Apparently Café Capriccio has a special relationship with a vineyard in Tuscany (Fattoria Lavacchio) that makes this particular bottle of wine uniquely for it. It was nice - complemented the meal very well, though nothing extremely remarkable about it. For dessert, the highpoint was a pie made with a medley of berries and apple. We also split a tiramisu and a chocolate/cappuccino cheesecake.

The service was excellent. They followed up each question with a thorough and generous answer. The waitstaff didn’t necessarily know all of the answers immediately, but quickly followed up and went above and beyond in terms of satisfying our curiousity about a few of the dishes. We all left happy, satisfied, and relaxed.

[financialdistrictresident]

Cachetes, thanks for the report. We were just discussing Cafe Capriccio yesterday as we were deciding where to have dinner last night. The Phish concert and street closings stopped us from going to Albany.

I have never had the eggplant entree, but love the eggplant appetizer. You might want to try that next time instead. They also have live jazz.

[Cachetes]

Fortunately, we ignored our fears about Phish traffic and went anyway. It wasn't too congested at all, and seeing the throngs of lost, dreadlocked followers make their way around Albany was worth it.

And we caught the jazz! I'll definitely return when I have more time to relax at the bar.

[financialdistrictresident]

We finally got back to Cafe Capriccio last weekend. We started with an apertif at the bar while they got our table ready. Unfortunately they did not have the duck tagliatelle, my favorite. We had the Capriccio eggplant with four cheeses and an appetizer size pasta for apps. Apologies, I can't remember what pastas we had last weekend. SO had a pasta dish for his entree and I had the hunter's main which I usually can't order because it has red meat in it. This time it had duck and poultry sausages. Very good. Same good, relaxed service. An Albany gem.