Caper’s Success Is No Mystery

Cafe Caper may sound like the title of a Nancy Drew mystery you never bothered to pick up. It’s actually a new restaurant in Downey that should quickly take the place of the highly regarded Magdelena’s (which closed last year in Bellflower) as the area’s local foodie haunt. All soft lights and gleaming wine buckets and overladen dessert carts, Cafe Caper is the place in this part of the county for towering chocolate souffles, or monkfish roasted and topped with sauteed rock shrimp, or duck-two-ways--preserved as confit and sauteed in a dried-cherry-and-port sauce.

Some of the cooking is a bit overenthusiastic: Roasted Sonoma lamb comes in a sauce heavy with both rosemary and tarragon; duck pot stickers come in a raspberry-ginger reduction. But basically what you get is decent, classic cooking, inspired by the ‘80s.

The most promising thing about Cafe Caper is that it’s clear somebody behind the scenes cares about fine dining. The staff, for instance, though young, seems well-trained.

Much of the credit has to go to Dean Gold, who until recently managed Evan Kleiman’s Angeli restaurants. He can be seen nudging the staff when a water glass needs refilling and he’s put together a fine, voluminous wine list. At the stove is Carlos White, who was chef at Magdelena’s at the time of its closing and has a large local following.

Cafe Caper’s owner, Arthur Fast, may be most famous for his chain of Arthur’s Coffee Shops, but judging from this pretty new restaurant, you’d never guess he made his reputation on sausage and orange juice.

* Cafe Caper, 11655 Lakewood Blvd., Downey, (310) 869-4105. Entrees $9-$19.