Caprice Kitchen
1418 N.W. 70th St.
Breakfast & Lunch: Wednesdays – Sundays, 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Set Menu Dinners: Fridays and Saturdays, 6 – 8 p.m. (reservations encouraged)
371-2886

Caprice Kitchen is Chef Anne Catherine's own homey café. Dedicated to providing local, seasonal, fresh ingredients, the restaurant is a creative experiment in supporting regional economy, eating responsibly, and conserving resources by dining close to home at the same time as eating delicious food. How can you lose?

Nestled into a quiet residential neighborhood, Caprice sits in the same location as the well-loved Treed Café. Cozy and unassuming Caprice Kitchen shines with its bountiful breakfasts.

Not the usual "two eggs, hash browns, toast and bacon" fare, these sumptuous items are more thoughtful and imaginative, while delivering on the volume goods. Sometimes these "special" places lay out portions fit for birds. Not here.

While the omelets change with the seasons, and a cheese plate and house made granola stand up as a welcome surprise, the true morning stars are the skillets.

Here, potatoes, vegetables, meats, chesses, and eggs come together in the kind of glistening unified harmony often found only in concert halls. We had the vegetable skillet, packed with cabbage, onions, carrots, and beets. This is a breakfast ingredient list that would petrify an adolescent, but as we get older, vegetables suddenly become more appealing.

Other potato/egg based skillets come with bacon and cheddar (which looked so good I almost snatched it from this lady sitting next to us), White Bean and Valentina, and Chicken and Blue Cheese; $11.95 and this baby's yours.

At dinner, the crowds are thinner so the atmosphere is uncrowded and relaxed. The menu is fixed and changes weekly. Although it's posted on the Web site, we found some variance; so call ahead if you want to be sure.

For $27 a person, three courses are provided, with wine an additional $7 a glass or $28 a bottle.

Salmon and potato chowder open the show, but this is a delicate, tantalizing chowder, not the thick, floury and creamy (or even tomato-based) texture we're used to. The fish, potatoes and fresh herbs burst through this modest and natural broth like sun through a parting cloud.

Miner's lettuce salad, the other first course possibility (choose one) is not overdressed with its garlic aioli, and that's enough to impress us right there. Overdressing is OK for cold winter days, but not for salads. Hand crafted croutons are another of this fine little performer's advantages.

Beef Lasagna with Big Boy tomatoes grown and canned last summer by the chef is beefy indeed. Satisfying with the house made pasta and accompanied smartly by sautéed spinach, the burnished lasagna seems less layered than the traditional style.

The spinach, like all menu items, suffers no overdoing. It's flavorful without being the least bit oily or too buttery.

Flourless chocolate cake with raspberry coulis finishes the evening in a modest and slightly dry fashion. The other dessert choice, trio of Estrella Creamery cheeses and a Mount Townsend Seastack, bring the fine meal to close with a bang, as the Estrella selection snaps our heads to attention with it's "funkier than thou" fragrance. This is one ripe cheese, and it's a memorable way to end the evening.

The Ballard Food Police visit all establishments anonymously and pay for all food and drink in full. Know anything we should know? Tell the Ballard Food Police at ballardfoodpolice@gmail.com.