Linger Over the Meals; It’s What They Want

Caffe Carino’s owner and chef, Nicola Clemente, is authentic Italian, but his food isn’t. Clemente’s cooking blends light and natural Italian cuisine with a more heavy-handed American style. The result is a unique, tasty and filling culinary experience.

Clemente, who is from the Adriatic port town of Bari, Italy, learned his trade at an Italian restaurant in New York after serving as a fill-in cook in the Merchant Marines. He later moved to California, and in 1989 opened his restaurant in Orange.

Tucked between several businesses in the back of a generic mini-mall on Chapman Avenue, Caffe Carino is easy to miss. Only a small sign on the mall marquee indicates the restaurant is located there. But your nose should lead you to the entrance.

Given its grave exterior, the restaurant’s intimate, tastefully decorated interior comes as a welcome surprise. The floral, dusty-pink decor and the linen-dressed tables make it ideal for a romantic dinner.

Which is precisely Clemente’s intention.

In true Italian fashion, the chef carefully prepares each dish and expects his customers to linger over their meals.

The ample size of the portions served makes this easy to do. Consider the vermicelli pescadore, a generous sampling of seafood and shellfish blended in a rich tomato sauce for $13.95. The sauce, using fresh ingredients and Clemente’s “secret” mix of herbs, has a slightly sweet overtone.

Another special, the seafood pasta, combines plump shrimp and chopped clams in a light sauce of tomatoes, crushed red peppers and black olives. The sauce has a little less bite than the brand that accompanies the vermicelli pescadore, but is equally satisfying.

Clemente’s white sauces, made with real cream, should not be missed either. The scallops and spinach with cream ($12) are unexpectedly sweet, yet not too rich.

The menu also offers the standard Italian fare, including a variety of pastas, fish, chicken and veal ranging in price from $8.50 to $16. All of Clemente’s dishes are made with fresh ingredients, an Italian tradition frequently neglected on this side of the Atlantic.

The restaurant offers an assortment of wines ($10 to $45) and beer ($2.50 to $3 per bottle). And for dessert, Clemente’s homemade cheesecake with raspberry sauce ($3.50) is light enough to complement even the heaviest meals.

Caffe Carino, 1740 W. Chapman Ave., Orange. Open for lunch Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; for dinner Tuesday through Friday, 5 to 9 p.m., Saturday till 9:30 p.m. Closed Sundays and Mondays. (714) 978-7202.