Here’s cookin’ at you

By : William Nichols

    Capri Trattoria

    ul. Smolna 14

    Tel. 826-3939

    Hours: noon – 10 p.m. daily

    Credit cards accepted

   To paraphrase Humphrey Bogart, “it’s a crazy mixed-up world and the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans.” Such is how Ania, Kasia and I found ourselves last Sunday afternoon. We had a 4 p.m. screening of “Casablanca” that we were determined to see, but more than that, we had to get some food. Time was running out.

   None of us had eaten all day, and earlier in the afternoon we had agreed to meet at a 1920s-style restaurant where we hoped to fill up before the film and set an appropriately nostalgic mood. Our hopes were squashed, however, when we arrived to find the place boarded up and empty – another quiet death on the Warsaw restaurant scene.

   Marooned on ulica Nowy Œwiat with little more than an hour before the start of the movie, we hung a left on ulica Smolna and marched toward the first signs of food we could find. From the outside Capri Trattoria looked promising enough.

   The exterior walls of the restaurant sprout lush vines of ivy, and, oddly enough on the last day of September, chairs and tables lined the sidewalk out front. But we couldn’t be bothered sitting so far from the kitchen. We descended the stairs and plopped down at the first empty table.

   Capri Trattoria’s interior goes to some length to convince diners that they’re in a provincial Italian cafe. It’s an effect that received mixed reviews from our panel of critics. While I was lulled into an absent-minded stupor by the restaurant’s cheery yellow walls and faux windows, Ania complained of being cold – a complaint that probably bore some merit. We were, after all, dining in the basement of an apartment block.

   But if there is one thing about Capri Trattoria that is authentically Italian, it’s the variety-show Italian pop music that droned incessantly in the background. Unfortunately, the alternative background noise was even worse. Until recently, the restaurant was strictly a pizzeria and remnants of the pizza funhouse remain. Among the other diners were several families whose small children took turns alternatively screaming their faces off and treating their eating utensils as though they were cymbals.

   Acoustics aside, whatever Capri Trattoria may lose in failed ambience, it more than makes up for by the quality and quantity of its food.

   After reading the menu, we cast aside any concern about making the movie on time. We were famished and ordered in last-supper-like proportions.

   For starters we decided on carpaccio and an order of eggplant fried with mozzarella and parmesan. These delicacies arrived within minutes and were quickly reduced to bare plates. The eggplant, with its hard outer shell of melted cheese, was soft and tender inside. The carpaccio, thinly sliced raw beef dressed in olive oil and capers, melted in our mouths. Ania quickly heralded it as the best she’d ever had.

   With our appetizers gone, the waiter, who now seemed more intent on us making the movie than we, brought forth our soups. Kasia’s fish soup was brimming with salmon, whitefish and clams. Although she found the stock alone to be overly fishy in flavor, when spooned up with the seafood it served only to complement the meat. My zucchini soup was served with an armada of croutons floating atop a creamy broth that was both robust and spicy. However, I scarcely had time to eat it before our main course arrived.

   My shrimp tagliatelle was the poorest performer of the evening. The sauce itself was flavorful, but the shrimp themselves were hardly the giant prawns I’d imagined – they more resembled the imperceptible brine that my cousin used to feed his pet guppies. I couldn’t help but stare jealously at the entrees sitting in front of Kasia and Ania.

   Kasia’s trout dripped with a savory lemon sauce that contained a hint of white wine. In addition, her meal was served with homefries and steamed vegetables that mixed just as well with the fish’s juice. But it was Ania who scored the clear winner of the afternoon. Her roast duck in fig sauce was cooked to perfection, with crispy skin on the outside and tender, moist meat on the inside. I couldn’t help but steal a bite from her. The rich dark game with its sweet fig triggered memories of Thanksgiving back home – the perfect complement to a cool autumn day.

   By the time we finished our meals it was 10 minutes until the start of the movie, but we couldn’t leave without sharing an order of tiramisu. Perhaps the ladies’ stellar meals had heightened their taste buds – they were unimpressed by the dessert. All the better for me, though. I bogarted the cake and within minutes was wiping any remains of its sweet cream from my lips. With our meal finished, we quickly settled up and headed for a waiting taxi. It’s a pity, too. By the end of our visit the noisy families had departed and the owner was lighting a fire of birch logs in the hearth. I could have squandered the remains of the day in that warm setting.

   In the dozens of times I’ve seen “Casablanca,” oddly enough I’ve never seen the beginning. But I guess it’s not that important. What matters is the ending. As Bogart’s character, Rick, tells Captain Louis Renault, “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

   Our feeding frenzy came to zł. 197 ($47).

   On the menu:

    Carpaccio zl.27

    Fried eggplant with mozzarella and parmesan zl.15

    Zuchinni soup zl.12

    Fish soup zl.14

    Pasta with shrimp zl. 23

    Roast duck in fig sauce zl. 40

    Trout with fried potatoes zl. 33

    Tiramisu zl. 15