When I called up and spoke with super young owner Joseph Ramirez aka, “JoJo” of Capriccio, Inc. he was so welcoming that I was so excited about my upcoming tasting. Well I was not disappointed, the food at Capriccio, Inc. is something everyone should celebrate, great Italian food, with great ingredients, what more could you want?
JoJo is so engaging, he has the best smile and when he speaks you really want to listen. From his photo online he had long hair, he told me he recently donated his hair to Love For Locks, what a stand up guy, just loved that. He has so much culinary experience in his young life and many incredible mentors that have paved his way to his very successful restaurant career. Family is everything to him and you can see that in everything he does. Most of his immediate family works at Capriccio, Inc., he wanted to teach them the value of hard work and that even though he is successful, a handout is never an option. The restaurant has had many challenges due to Covid in the last year, but JoJo loves being a mentor to all of his staff, and you can tell his happy attitude is contagious. He learned everything he knows about business from the women that raised him, one being Teresa Mejia, he says the restaurant she owned would wash the dishes if they needed to be washed. Teresa also helped pay for JoJo to go to nursing school, which he still uses, during the pandemic he helped at a local hospital. JoJo says, “Yes I have washed the dishes here at Capriccio, Inc. you just do what you have to do to make things work”. His young nephew Michael was doing many tasks, and was delighted in doing them. You can tell that JoJo’s work ethic has rubbed off on Michael, he takes pride in earning money and making Capriccio Inc., customers super happy. My server Richard, another one of JoJo’s relatives, was great in seeing to my every need while dining at Capriccio, Inc. JoJo wants you to feel like family when you at Capriccio, Inc. Truly, I was treated like family and royalty, I was made to feel so special, but from what I could tell every customer is made to feel just that same way.
Here’s What I Tried:
Starters:
Capriccio Sampler: with calamari, scampi, and bruschetta. The calamari is crispy on the outside and super tender on the inside, the scampi comes separate and has an amazing sauce. The bruschetta is super flavorful and yummy.
Eggplant Parmesan, traditional eggplant parmigiana. These are big round pieces of eggplant, cooked breaded and just delightful. The sauce adds that extra hint of tomato goodness, a real winner.
Soup:
Cream of Potatoes – Leek Soup, I can always tell a great restaurant just from tasting their soup. This soup had some kind of hidden ingredient that made it super special.
Salad:
Blacked Shrimp salad with salmon, shrimp, spinach, tomatoes, candied walnuts, pears, feta, cranberries with honey vinaigrette. I basically took 2 salads and put them together, what made this salad so amazing was the salmon, it just flaked right off the fork and was seasoned to perfection, a fantastic salad.
Pastas:
Fettuccine Bolognese, rich meat sauce in a tomato cream sauce. This Bolognese is different from what I have tried in the past, they use Italian sausage as their main ingredient, so not carrots, just a very meaty sauce that was spectacular.
Crab Cannelloni, crab ricotta cheese topped with lobster cream sauce. Oh by far one of my favorites in the tasting. The lobster sauce takes this on a whole other level; it’s rich and creamy and just takes my breath away.
Linguine Pescatore, with rock shrimp, scallops, calamari, mussels, clams, fish and tomato sauce. A fine array of very fresh seafood with a nice straightforward tomato sauce, just what the doctor ordered.
Pizza:
Bella Pizza, with crispy pancetta topped with romaine avocado tomato salad. So this pizza is a Ceasar salad on top of a pizza, what a novel concept! The crust is what I would write home about, its super thin and bubbled up, just the way I like it.
Entrees:
Italian Beef Stew with mashed potatoes and corn. OMG, this is another one of my favorites. Like my grandmother used to make, and the flavorful mashed potatoes and corn really take it to another level,
Desert:
Tiramisu cake, one of the best tiramisu I have ever had, just save room.
Wine:
Pinot Grigio – Cantina Zaccagnini – 2019. This wine is not on their menu, JoJo told me he orders it special and I can understand why. It is the perfect lunchtime wine; it adds some nice tones to all of the seafood dishes, a real find.
JoJo came in one day when it was another restaurant and he sat at a corner table and told himself that one day he would own this place, It took 6 years but his wish came true. When I asked JoJo why people should choose his restaurant when there are so many choices in the neighborhood, he simply said, “My Food is Better, ” he was right! Capriccio, Inc. opened its doors in May of 2018. JoJo is in the works for another one of his signature restaurants, but it will be something different, I told him to have me in for a review, so stay tuned.
This place is just the best, it is so unassuming, with its very spacious social distanced dining room and its lovely outdoor dining, inside of the parklett on Main Street. Recently he has had some celebrities, and famous musicians, but the only one JoJo could tell me about was Bruno Mars’ brother. It is such a unique getaway out of the craziness of Los Angeles, so I can understand. It is a very fun atmosphere, but the real star here is their excellent food, everything was just mouthwatering and perfect. Chef Ramon Sanchez makes that all happen, along with JoJo’s special touches. All of their sauces and dressings are made from scratch. Honestly you can’t order anything bad, it is all Italian dining at it’s best.
Capriccio-inc.com
298 E Main St.
Ventura, CA 93001
(805) 643-7115