LITTLE ROCK — When you make a living with fork, knife and pen, restaurants fall into three categories.
Places you’ll happily visit on the company’s dime.
Places you’ll unhappily visit on the company’s dime (and - grumble - go at least twice because - sigh - you’re gauging consistency).
And restaurants you’ll happily visit on your own dime.
Ristorante Capeo falls into the first and third categories. Add a hundred dollars or two.
Owned by chef Eric Isaac and brother Brian, Capeo is still the crown jewel of North Little Rock’s revitalized Argenta neighborhood. A case could be made - particularly well over a plush pasta and silky glass of red - that the cozy and classy restaurant open since 2003 spurred the area’s reawakening.
Quietly tucked on the southwest corner of Fifth and Main, coyly blending in with dark paint and hid-ing behind awnings, Capeo doesn’t draw much attention to itself visually. It doesn’t have to. Word of mouth has made it a fixture with north of the river noshers while reforming Little Rock snobs.
It has also made Capeo quite busy on weekend nights, so consider making a reservation. When doing so, you might want to specify which of the two dining rooms you desire: the bigger, more boisterous northern room with the bar and view of the open kitchen or the more intimate, romantic southern room.
Windows in both rooms give diners a street view of the trolley rumbling by. Gold walls with exposed brick and white tablecloths give the space an elegant yet unfussy warmth. (We’ve seen diners in sequins and shorts.)
Sip on a cocktail. (We recommend the satiny, salty tomato-olive infused vodka Tom-a-Tini, $10.) Or start with one of the 1,000 bottles of wine ($22-$275) in Capeo’s cellar. (A smooth, simple La Crema Pinot Noir, $42, or the fuller Antigal “Uno” Malbec, $32 are solid choices at moderate prices.) Or bring your own bottle and pay the $17 corkage fee. Wines by the glass are $5.50 to $12.
The Northern Italian menu features antipasti (appetizers), contorni (side dishes, like salads), primi piatti (first plates, like pasta), secondi piatti (second plates, or entrees) and dolce (desserts).
All items can be ordered individually or in the semiset-price Capeo Dinner. But inquire about charges prior to ordering rather than be surprised by the bill. We only now realized that we were charged $130 for what actually was $121 worth of food on our first visit. (A $10 per person charge was added because one selection was considered a pricier meat choice.) We’d be troubled by that if we didn’t also just realize the restaurant failed to charge usfor a bottle of wine ($42) and only charged us for a glass ($11). All things considered, we unintentionally came out $22 ahead.
With the Capeo Dinner, each member of a party pays $55 (plus any upgrade fees) to participate in a shared seven course meal (for each person, half portions of two appetizers, a salad or soup, a pasta, two entrees - one meat, one fish - and dessert). Everyone at the table can decide which items they’d like to order, or they can discuss their food preferences with their server and let the chef surprise them. The two servers who took care of us were both friendly and knowledgeable about the menu and quite helpful with recommendations.
For appetizers, we wentyin and yang, splitting the Hunter (usually $11.50), a macho array of sliced Italian meats, savory homemade sausage, pepperoncini peppers and tomato and grilled bread (this in addition to the crusty bread and butter and packs of grissini breadsticks on the table), while also sharing the relatively dainty and delicious pepper-crusted and seared Tuna Loin ($10) topped with black truffle oil and balsamic vinegar.
Other starters we sampled on a subsequent visit included the Octopus ($9), lightly fried and joined by a tart toss of tomatoes, capers, garlic, onions and champagne vinaigrette, and the tasty but skimpy Gnocchi ($10) that featured four mere fingers of ricotta in a robust tomato sauce.
That sauce - cheesy and peppery - tasted the same as the one on our zesty Penne al Arabiatta ($8.50). Other pasta options include Spaghetti Carbonara, Lasagna and Risotto (from $10 to $14.50); one could easily make a more affordable meal here with a pasta course and a soup or salad.
Instead of choosing a house ($6.50) or Caesar ($7), we opted for the Fried Sage Leaves ($9) as our salad course. “Fried grass,” my dining companion labeled the pile of semi-crisp herb leaves served with tomato sauce. I like fried grass.
We were in total agreement about the excellent shared entrees: the meaty wine-and-herb marinated Swordfish ($21), nesting on green beans with a tomato and caper sauce, and the succulent, hearty Veal Chop ($45) grilled and served on a pleasing polenta with pancetta and gorgonzola plus a mushroom and wine sauce.
Entrees we tried on a subsequent visit included a velvety Beef Tenderloin ($39), topped with goat cheese and grilled mushrooms, and a moist Halibut ($25.50) baked in tomatoes, olives, artichoke hearts in seafood broth. The slightly dry Chicken Picatta ($22) was helped by a puckery blend of lemon, capers, white wine and a good bit of butter.
There’s never room for dessert at Capeo, but that’s never a reason to skip it. The rich Bitter Chocolate Mousse ($7) and intriguing Pear and Gorgonzola Torte ($7.50) - puff pastry and almond paste baked with fruit and cheese, then drizzled with honey and balsamic vinegar - are more filling, but the fluffy Tiramisu ($7) and creamy White Chocolate Creme Brulee ($7) are perfect lighter choices to cap a Capeo Dinner.
One day soon we’ll try that Potato & Green Bean Tart side dish ($7), the Lamb ($26) and the Eggplant Parmesan ($18) and several more pastas.
On our own dime. Happily.
Ristorante Capeo Address: 425 Main St., North Little Rock Hours: 5-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday Cuisine: Italian Credit cards: AE, V, MC, D Alcoholic beverages: Full bar Reservations: Recommended Wheelchair accessible: Yes Carryout: Yes (501) 376-3463 capeo.us
Weekend, Pages 29 on 07/29/2010