Hi, I am new to BT; will be coming in Feb 2006. Last time I was there we ate at a wonderful place named- ? Capprecio's ? Is it still there? Can't wait to get there again. Can't wait to be back in Bonaire.

Hi Linda, Cappricios is still there

I like your taste Linda,

welcome to BT linda. yes, capriccio's is still there. hope you enjoy your visit and don't forget to go to gibi's on tuesday at 630 to meet the other BT'ers for dinner. also, check out "everything else bonaire" so you can add your name to the "feb/mar visitors" thread.

Hey Linda;

I'm going to Bonaire Jan. 14th and Caprecio's is on the top of my list. How can one small island have such great diving and great food ?? When I die and go to heaven I'll bet it will be Bonaire.

Well put Bill!

Definitely make reservations, and keep in mind Karnaval 2006 (last weekend of Feb) holiday days might change some business' openings/closings.

Capriccio is still there, though we missed eating there on our just-completed trip, wanted to try some places we hadn't been before.

NB: it is an American thing to add a possessive ( 's ) to restaurant names that are not proper names. Capriccio is not a proper name like Gibi. (it is Italian for "whimsy", I believe). "Whimsy's" would be a pretty dumb name for a restaurant, I think. Sorry, just a pet peeve.

the restaurant's website (you can reserve online) is http://www.bonairenet.com/capric/indexcap.htm

very accurate review from Frommers:
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/bonaire/D48332.html

Have a great trip!

David

Long ago the owners told me the name was Italian for a word that translates into something like "a craving."

This is a wonderful restaurant. We have long loved their food and they are very pleasant with great service. They have Italian food second to none. They use the freshest of food and they make different unusual combinations of very good flavors and tastes and textures. We usually eat there very often during our yearly visits. They also have the best pizza and a menu for everyone's taste.

Hi David, How was your trip? Looking forward to a trip report, I hope?

Debbie,

Had a great trip; I hope to have report and pictures up soon.

Ruth,

I don't speak Italian. I checked for the meaning in an Italian - English dictionary. The root would seem to be the same as the English word caprice, which is close to whimsy and was listed as another meaning. Any native Italian speakers out there?

David

I bet it's a dialect thing....probably means whimsy in one, and "a craving" in another.

When I spent my 6 weeks in PR, I couldn't for the life of me understand why they couldn't understand my limited Spanish...then found out that the dialect(s) they speak in PR are from PR, Cuba, Dominican Republic (and probably a few others). So what one word means in Baja or Mexico, is VERY different from PR, Cuban, or the Dominican Republic dialect...take for example, at the Hampton Inn, the staff pronounced it "HampTONE Inn" and when Rafa's friend from Dominican Republic heard me say "HampTONE Inn" he just about busted a gut and kept asking me to say it all evening so he could chuckle...and he lives in PR!

Uh, the 4 owners are all from Italy (northern)...

See www.bonairedining.com/guide/restaurants/capriccio.html

According to the restaurant's page on Bonaire dining guide, Capriccio means "spoiled" in Italian...

I'm sticking with whimsy. I'm not eating anywhere called "spoiled".

David

I lived in Italy for four years. Capriccio clearly had the meaning of "caprice" in English. (Surprise!) I imagine the popularity of the name for restaurants has to do with the "whim" or "impulse" meanings of caprice. "Hey, there's a cool-looking restaurant; let's eat there!"

And I plan to....Jan 21-28 is the next visit. I can't wait.

- Mel

Mel,
We will be there at the same time you are going. We are leaving from Cincinnati, and flying to Houston with a five hour lay over and then we have an 8 hour flight to Bonaire which should put us there about 6:00 am on the 21st. Maybe we will see you at Gibi's on Tuesday.

David, I think Capriccio means, in a lieral translation, " Keep bringing Jim more Belgian Endive with Shrimp." It could also mean, " Keep bringing Jim more Osso Bucco."

Glad to see you arrived home safely, Jim!

every time i go to capriccio's (3 times total now) i get bad service.

this last time, i made a reservation, got dressed up, etc.

they forgot our after dinner drinks and left us sitting at the table beverageless for 20 minutes or more before we eventually got up from the table to request our bill.

do they just not like americans there? i tip really well.

their food is pretty good, but i don't think i'll be going back.

Jenny,
I agree the food is to die for, but not great enough to put up with that B**** of an owner. She is just aweful. We went with a party of about 8 and she made the experiance just awful. Always throwing around the fact she was the owner and didn't have to let us eat there. We ordered a ton of food and drinks. And she even argued with one of the guests about what he had ordered even when EVERYONE at the table heard what he had ordered and they brought him something different. Then she got really snotty and said she would change it because the customer was always right. My friend and I were laughing and enjoying ourselves and she got mad at us for laughing LAUGHING seriously and told us she could throw us out. We threatened to leave without paying and she soon shut up. We go with groups of 20 to 40 people on dive trips and no one that we know will ever eat there again. Good food is no reason to put up with that nasty evil devil of a woman. I worked at a real Italian place up here when I was in high school and we would never ever speak to guest the way she did. I was so angry this being my first trip to Bonaire and I was so excited to go to Capriccio's because everyone raved about it. I got 1000 time the service at The Lion's Den where we were staying. Needless to say I didn't tip well that evening. The tip reflects the service since the service was so terrible so was the tip. I will never recommend that place to anyone.

Kim,

So sorry you had such a bad experience... but at least it's not just me. You're right - it is the fault of the woman owner. Her employees were friendly enough - no complaints about them. they brought us a dessert menu with a bunch of drinks listed... we ordered two white russians and none of the servers knew what we were talking about. The owner came over and said - "i'm the only bartender - I'll get those right out to you." we waited and waited... nothing came. she just doesn't seem to care about her customers.

Have you been in the ladies room there? I have never seen a rotating plastic toilet seat cover - the most impressive thing about the restaurant!

The Lion's Den is excellent, possibly my favorite restaurant on the island. The service is a million time better, and the food is awesome.

what a sad comment that the most impressive thing was the toilet seat. but I must agree. Oh and if The Lions Den is the best place you've eaten then you must must must try I think it is called The Argintinian Grill or the Argintina something along those lines. They have this like POT o Meat thing that is all these different meats that two people can share. They have fantastice chicken fett. they have great steaks, good drinks it takes a little while when they are busy, but if you are on island time it is great the staff is so polite and it is so nice to sit outside and just soak up the moment.

Kimberly you are now talking about Casablanca's it is a great place to eat for sure.

thats it thanks patrick. yeah it was love at first bite for me. there were about 6 of us and we all ordered something different and shared everything so everyone got to try different stuff. i was the only one that didn't eat the shell fish though (bad allergies) it was fantastic though. Oh and that little ice cream store Lovers I think was to die for. You take a right out of Buddy Dive and its on the right like a block up in a strip mall type thing. This ice cream comes in a close second to our Graeters here in Cinci if you can believe that.

Kim & Jenny,

Sorry to hear about your negative experiences at Capriccio's.

I will point out that all the good restaurants on Bonaire are owner-run, and with that you may get personality quirks (as pretty much every fellow foreigner we know here on Bonaire is quirky one way or another, otherwise they would probably not survive living here).

Also, if either of your expectations were to have rapid, in-your-face and let's-get-you-the-check-asap-so-we-can-turn-tables-many-times a-night service that folks in U.S. restaurants have been forced to accept at most places in the States, I can pretty much guarantee that no owner-operated restaurant on Bonaire operates that way. Food is meant to be prepared fresh, and enjoyed in a leisurely fashion, and that typically means that you should budget 2-4 hours for a nice dinner here, and you generally only get your cheque after you explicitly ask for it. Go to: http://www.bonairedining.com/ and scroll down to the Getting Service section for some more detail on this subject.

That said, Linda and I have never had anything but excellent food and service at Capriccio. That's one reason we usually have our special dinners (like Anniversaries, Valentine's Day, etc.) there as well. We dine there at least every other month.

And the desserts are to die for. If you've got a big sweet tooth, bring some friends, ask Lola for a Grand Dessert (not on the menu, but effectively it's the entire dessert menu on one huge platter) and a bottle of something nice to go with it. Prepare to waddle away, sated and happy.

Jake

Jake, as usual, well said I had been mulling over an appropriate response since last night, but yours was better than what I was coming up with I agree, Cappricios has excellent food.

Guys i am not arguing about the food it was some of the best I've had, and I don't care how long it takes to get to me. MY problem is how incredibly rude, nasty, and down right mean the lady who owns the place was. The rest of the staff was just fantastic she just made the experiance on that I never want to have again.

Cappricios try's very hard to set a very high standard of service, food, wine and to give there clients a delightful experience.
If anyone has ever worked with the general public, you know it's not easy. In fact it stinks at times. We (people on vacation) forget that they are working there ass's off to make us happy.
I spend my time working with the gen-pub, trust me when I say it's close to impossible to make everyone happy 100% of the time. All it takes is one upset person to rock the boat, then it starts to take on water, if you are unable to bail fast enough, you sink.
Lola can at times be a sweetheart, then bang, she is a queen bi..h! I could not, and would not do what she does. Could you? Would you? I bet not.
Now that she and hubby are sole owners, I admit that they need more help. I asked if someone was going to fill Antanela's (Spelling) place, and she said, "we are trying, but it's not easy to finding a person at that level, we are looking".

There is no defense for rudeness.

I have dined there when a table of ten sat down, they were so loud, we had to move outside.
But before we did they worked over Lola pretty hard. Wine was to cold, to warm, bread was not hot, ten pains to deal with. Can you say M16?
I watched her keep her cool, I did not, as we moved outside I made a comment to one of the gentleman sitting at the end. " You are not the only people here tonight, give her a brake".

So, with that said, if you do not like fine food, fine wines, and two nice people trying very hard to please you, and a proper paced meal, then please try KFC.

Check please!

I sit here and can not stand the way some people attack somebody for posting what happened to them. Jerry you were not there they were and they have every right to say what happen to them. How rude of you to try and chastise them for posting how somebody was to them. I do work with the public every day. You do not treat your customers that way at all, if you want to stay in business. No matter how bad your day has been. PERIOD!!!!!!!

My Dear Patrick,
Did you read (There is no defense for rudeness) in my post?
Also I did not attack anyone. So what are you talking about? Chastise who?

Sounds like you might have just a tad to much coffee in your system. Relax and enjoy the day.
And please read my post again, I was just talking how hard of a job it is, and that's about it.

So, how can I help you sir?

Patrick thanks for the backing, Jerry I too work with the public and have been in the customer service industry for 8 years. I have never in my life been rude to a customer, I worked for 3 years in an Italian Cafe where I was a manager from the time I was 18 due to lack of the real managers ablity to show up. If an 18 year old brat from the upper middle class can serve everyone including her staff with a smile so can an educated woman somewhere in her 40's who should have more patience than that. I also worked for a food marketing company in the reconsiliation tell me that wouldn't stress someone out, but even if I am stress I would never make the customer feel bad or like they weren't welcome there. I worked for the internet department for Charming Shoppe's Inc. (Catherine's, Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug) first in the order department rectifying customers problems then in order fraud, try calming down the man that just realized it was his wife that charged $3000.00 to there charge account for underwear, or the woman who had her identity stolen but doesn't understand what that means. If Lola was it, was in that bad of a mood she should have taken the night off. There was absolutely no excuse for her behavior. WE were not overly loud, it was election day for one and the people outside in the streets were 400 times louder than we could ever be everyone in the room was having to speak louder. We even had a conversation with the other tables in the room. We were not the problem or I would have been the first to appologize to the owner. SHE WAS JUST RUDE. I don't know what else to say. Jerry you may get good service when you are there, but we had such a horrific experiance we and everyone we come in contact with will never eat there again. Sorry it is about principle now.

My husband and I are in our 20s... maybe she just doesn't like young people ;)

Jenny,
I am sorry you had a bad experience.
I have as well with Lola. Next visit she kissed me. Go figure. I'm sure your age has nothing to do with her bad service. To tell you the truth, I do think it's to much for her, trying to do it herself is nuts. I do not know if you watched, but she helps at every table with the wine order, food order, then has to take care of the checks.
And I will say it again, "there is no defense for rudeness".

(Message edited by bonaire9 on April 5, 2006)

Jerry i did read your post over and over again and just did it again. You still do not understand what you posted or how you came across at all.

YOU SAID
"So, with that said, if you do not like fine food, fine wines, and two nice people trying very hard to please you, and a proper paced meal, then please try KFC."

Rudeness is rudeness and once again if she can't take the heat see needs to get out of the skillet.

Cap's might not be for everyone. It's slow at best. Priced a tad on the high side. Meals are put together around the wines.
Antanela (spelling) left. She was a big-time service person. They are under staffed. It's Bonaire after all.

Jenny said she had been there three time with bad service. Should she try another place? Wright it off her dinning list?

I was defending Cap's lack of help, and being under pressure at times. Not rudeness.
If you (anyone) do not want to put up with that then I would recommend SPAM! No coffee!!!
And what's wrong with KFC?

Can I please have my check?

Yes Jerry you can and me too. LOL and i happen to like spam sometimes.

Don't ya just love a good ending?

Awe...{{(((((group hug)))}}

Three weeks ago I had a wine dinner for ten people.
Big time food & wine snobs, and I cooked up some SPAM, served it with some black truffels on toast.
I told my guest that it was a French pate.
Everyone loved it, asked if there was any more. The dish cost $25.00 for ten.
$20.00 for Two truffles.
$3.00 for French bread.
$1.99 for SPAM. Only used half, my dog ate the rest!

For throes who know wine, it was served with a 1979 Caymus Res. What a match!
No one believed me until I pulled out the SPAM can.

Next is SMOKED RACK OF LAMB WITH AUISI SMASHED POTATOES OVER "FRENCH PATE" .

Check Please!

Jerry, that's hilarious. It reminds me of the (possibly urban legend) story about a painting thought to be a Picasso and valued at several million dollars by The Art World. When it was discovered to be in fact a painting by a student of his, the value plummeted to a couple hundred thousand. Ummm.....it's still the same painting. ;-)

Does anyone have any ketchup?
It cuts down the GLOW of the SPAM!

I wonder if I can bread & deep fry spam with the Colonel's 11 secret herbs & spices......Hey guys-thanks for the new menu item idea!
;-0

Pate de Spuds.

I would dip slices into a egg wash, then into PANCO (Jap bread crumbs)Add any spice you like into the Panco. Add olive oil to a heavy cast frying pan, about enough to coat bottom. Med-high heat until it just starts to smoke. Remember the exhaust fan?????.
Add the dreaded French pate (SPAM) to pan. Work fast as it will cook up fast. Gas is better for this as we need a very even heat placement on the pan.
Use tongs to check the SPAM. Turn when GOLDEN.
Remove when done and place on a pre-heated platter, cover.

Mashed potatoes to die for.

Boil some potatoes.
When done, mash a bit, add some room temp butter, some cream, scullions, a small amount chicken stock, some pre-cooked smoked bacon. Now mash away.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

On a warm large 14-16" plate, serve a mound of potatoes. Take three slices of SPAM and lean against the potatoes. Pan grill some peppers and ions as a side.

Drizzle (spoon) some demiglace sauce around the plate.
Total time...........35min
Total cost...........$5.00-$7.00