Review: Greg Cox, Correspondent - Raleigh, NEWS & OBSERVER - March 23, 2007 ''Read the fine print." It's sound legal advice, no doubt, although I'll wager very few of us take it seriously. Still, that's just what I recommend you do when you pick up the menu at Cafe Capistrano. If you don't, and instead just read the listings -- enchiladas, quesadilla, chimichanga, tostada, tacos, burrito, chile relleno and the like -- you may well get the idea that Cafe Capistrano is just another Mexican restaurant. It isn't. To understand just what it is, turn the menu over. Read the section -- the fine print, if you will -- under the heading "Welcome to Cafe Capistrano."

There, you'll learn the restaurant bills its cuisine as "California style" Mexican, which translates to an emphasis on fresh ingredients and healthy cooking. You'll discover (among other things) that salsas are made fresh twice daily, the beef is certified Angus, and extra virgin olive oil is used for sauteing. You'll be advised that, because food is prepared to order, it takes a bit longer than at your typical Tex-Mex joint. And you'll be promised that it's worth the wait. Is it ever. The fine print can prepare you for the fact that the guacamole may take a few minutes because it's made from scratch, but it can't prepare you for the lavish simplicity of the dish itself: a whole, perfectly ripe avocado, coarsely chopped and brightened with a spoonful of pico de gallo, so thick and chunky it isn't served in a bowl but mounded onto a plate.

Queso blanco, made to order with Monterey Jack and cotija cheeses, cream and fresh jalapenos, is likewise a model of clean, pure flavors. And the accompanying tortilla chips, cut and fried on the premises in canola oil, aren't always warm when they arrive at the table, but they aren't the least bit greasy. Flour tortillas, cut and fried in the shape of mini taco shells, are just as successful in an appetizer offering of mango shrimp (the one dish whose name alone gives it away as not typical Mexican restaurant fare). Each crisp shell contains a single jumbo shrimp, a mini-slice of avocado and a drizzle of a spicy-sweet mango sauce -- a downright addictive combination of flavors and textures, it turns out.

Entrees are likewise rewarding. If pressed to single out a favorite, I suppose I'd have to go with the Santa Fe enchiladas, filled with cheese and your choice of meat (I'd get the succulent shredded beef, though chicken and ground beef are also available), and baked under a deeply savory blanket of New Mexico chile mole sauce -- made from scratch, of course. But huevos rancheros, a multilayered extravaganza of soft corn tortillas, molten cheese, hash browns, "smashed" beans (Cafe Capistrano's excellent take on refried beans), ranchero sauce and pico de gallo, topped with two eggs done the way you prefer (in my case, sunny side up), would
be a close second. Nor, for that matter, would I turn up my nose at the classically egg-battered chile relleno, which is plumped with a cilantro-spiked filling of cheese and chicken; or the quesadilla, generously packed with three cheeses (Jack, cheddar and cotija) and your choice of meat. The only problem would be choosing among shredded beef, equally juicy pork or nuggets of mahi mahi with a creamy lime sauce (chicken, shrimp and vegetarian fillings are also offered). The chimichanga is another tempting option, though the flour tortilla wrapper can sometimes be a shade or two pale of the crisp, golden deep-fried ideal.

Chef James Cardona, who owns the restaurant with brother-and-sister partners, Bobby DeRome and Joni DeRome, modeled Cafe Capistrano after Cardona's sister's restaurant, Cactus Flower in Pensacola, Fla. Cardona, who worked for six months at Cactus Flower to learn the ropes, is especially proud of the flan, which he makes himself. His pride is more than justified. For that matter, all the desserts -- from Mexican wedding cake (aka tres leches) to a very California-ish gooey chocolate brownie cake -- are worth the calories,
and all are made in house. Of course, you already know that if you've read the fine print.

Greg Cox can be reached at ggcox@bellsouth.net.