RESTAURANT REVIEW : Ristorante Relies Not on Whim but on Delicious Dependability

I still haven’t come to terms with all my fears about fine dining in shopping malls. There are crowded parking lots to deal with. At Christmas there are Santas. And what if I am seized with the sudden urge to buy auto parts during a romantic interlude between courses? Most of all, I am afraid of what I am going to have to eat. I still imagine mall food as pizza and popcorn balls--the kind of food all malls had before they got fancy.

Maybe that is why I was so pleasantly surprised by Capriccio Italiano Ristorante in Village Mall, Mission Viejo.

Capriccio may mean “whim” in Italian, but there is very little that is whimsical about this place. The cooking here has a finished quality to it, a solid dependability. Don’t come looking for elegant decor, but don’t worry about having to pay for it either. For my money, Capriccio is a real find.

The kitchen is run by two brothers from Palermo, Franco and Sal Maniaci, but there is barely a trace of Sicilian influence in the dishes they serve. Franco, the older brother, trained in Geneva and Paris; Sal apprenticed in Bologna and Rome. It is not so surprising then that the restaurant’s style is predominantly northern Italian, with a healthy amount of French mixed in.

Vitello tonnato --a popular appetizer of cold veal, tuna and capers--demonstrates this middle ground well. If you have had this dish in San Francisco’s largely Tuscan North Beach section (where you will find it on practically every menu), you will notice that Capriccio’s version is quite different. Franco purees the tuna with cream, producing a smooth, silken sauce, unlike anything an Italian chef would make, and the result is wonderful.

Another hybrid, perhaps less successful, is fonda di carciofi in pompa magna , a marinated artichoke heart stuffed with duxelles of fresh mushroom. I am not sure how well they work together, but an imaginative companion solved the problem. She simply spooned out the mushrooms and ate it with bread. Then she ate the artichoke separately.

Other appetizers are less ambivalent about their identity. Lumache del bosco , or snails with garlic in mushroom caps, may have an Italian name, but the dish is solidly French. Insalata verde bianco rosso, literally “salad green white red,” is a platter of avocado, buffalo mozzarella and vine tomato. What impressed me about this dish was the dressing--a pale, moss-green olive oil--that was good enough to sop up with bread. If you plan a multicourse dinner, it might be an ideal starting point.

When you get to the pastas, though, give up the idea of foreign influences for a while. There are some things that no Italian would tamper with. The Maniacis get a daily supply of fresh spaghetti, linguine, ravioli, fettuccini, tortellini, farfalline (bow ties) and lasagna from Pasta Mia, a Garden Grove dough maker. (Only penne, the blowpipe-thin, angle-cut tubed ones, are dried.) Expect them all to be served al dente , unless otherwise specified.

I asked the waiter whether the kitchen could prepare a spaghetti alla putanesca , even though it was not on the menu; I got an enthusiastic nod. This Neapolitan classic is prepared with black olives, capers, anchovies and tomato. Here it was done to perfection.

Try farfalline al salmone , which is on the menu, served in a cream sauce with prosciutto, smoked salmon, cognac and little bits of diced tomato. It is devastatingly rich.

I recommend that you share the rich pastas. They are remarkably filling. Tortellini alla Norma has ham, pine nuts, walnuts and a thick cream sauce. I defy anyone to finish an order.

The simpler pasta dishes go better with other courses. Alla Marticiana is a modest sauce of tomato, onion and basil. All’Arribiata is sauced tomato, black olive and plenty of fiery red pepper.

When you do get to the main dishes, be sure to try the daily specials; it is here that the Maniacis do the unexpected. It is unlikely that you will find the French country dish, lepre salmi --a civet of hare with thyme, laurel, celery, carrots, red wine and cognac--anywhere else in the area. Call ahead to be sure they will be serving it.

More French surfaces in the saddle of lamb with truffles and foie gras. I didn’t have the chance to try it because the dish sold out, but it certainly isn’t normal fare for a modest Italian restaurant.

The expected Italian dishes are plentiful here, too. Chicken cacciatora can be found if you are looking, but I would instead choose pollo alla Fradiavolo , a butterflied breast of chicken with natural juices, Italian pickles, roasted garlic and black pepper. Standard veal dishes--parmigiana, piccata and Marsala--are made with white Provimi veal from Wisconsin.

Other Italian family dishes, like a homemade sausage (with a melt-in-the-mouth texture but a disappointingly bland bite), and an ossobuco Milanese (veal shank in a thick tomato sauce), also are available.

Desserts are pleasant if unmemorable; try the passable homemade tiramisu and cannoli . Coffee is strong here, but if you order cappuccino, be prepared for a small mountain of whipped cream.

Prices at Capriccio will make you want to sing “Funiculi Funicula” along with the restaurant’s Muzak. Appetizers are $5.25 to $6.75. Pastas, which come with salad and can be shared, are $4.95 to $10.75. Main dishes begin at a reasonable $7.75 and go to $15.75. The wine list is decent and not overpriced.

CAPRICCIO ITALIANO RISTORANTE

25380 Marguerite Parkway, Village Mall, Mission Viejo, (714) 855-6866

Open for lunch Monday through Friday; for dinner, daily.

MasterCard and Visa accepted.