Capers & Lemons Italian restaurant

Balsamic onion flatbread and handmade gnocchi from Capers & Lemons restaurant in Wilmington. (Credit: Jessica Bratton)

High expectations can be dangerous for a restaurant. When I heard that the people behind two of my favorite dining spots, Eclipse and Dome were opening a new place called Capers & Lemons, I expected a lot. During my dinner there last week, every one of my high expectations was met. The youngest sibling in this foodie family is a welcome addition to the Delaware restaurant scene.

The first thing I saw when I walked into the stand-alone restaurant with its nice, big windows was a fountain, made out of wine bottles situated on the wall directly behind the hostess stand. Creative, yet tasteful. Wine bottles also provide a focal point behind the bar, with shelves of bottles reaching the ceiling, and artistically lit with blue and green lights.

The rest of the restaurant is just as tastefully decorated, with dark wood, earth tones and the occasional pop of green from the fabric in the booths. Large photographs of lemons, and capers, decorate one wall, but giant lights with tiered brown shades hanging from the ceiling and an open pizza oven provide other focal points.

But the pizza oven isn't just there for looks. The crust on our margarita pizza ($11) was thin and cracker-crisp under the pizza sauce, homemade mozzarella and fresh basil, while the un-topped crust around the outside was crisp, but light and soft inside. The house-made mozzarella was gooey and toothsome, its sweetness contrasted well with the slight bite of the tomato sauce.

That same crust made an appearance as the base of the balsamic onion flatbread ($8), which was topped with sweet balsamic onions, roasted red peppers, that tasty house-made mozzarella and judiciously applied pesto. The restraint shown with the pesto let all the flavors sing, rather than the pesto hogging the limelight, like it so often does.

No one would call polenta a peasant food once they've tried it sandwiched around fontina cheese and spinach, then fried until there's a thick, crunchy golden crust on the outside, sitting on a little pond of tomato sauce. In the fried polenta "sandwich" ($8) a cut through the crust reveals polenta that is almost cake-like, oozing fontina and just enough spinach to rationalize that the dish isn't that bad for you.

A nest of linguine in an herbed tomato broth held a multitude of good-sized shrimp, mussels, clams and calamari, along with garlic toast in their tasty cioppino ($19).

The braciole ($19) came with three pieces of hand-rolled beef, so tender that it fell apart with the lightest pressure from a fork. It was served with tomato sauce atop a bed of rich, creamy polenta.

Their gnocchi ($17) are handmade, and the little nuggets of dough were pillowy, with none of the toughness or doughiness you sometimes find in this dish. The madeira in the tomato-madeira sauce gave the sauce a little more bite than you'd expect from the standard tomato sauce, and the fresh-made mozzarella and basil confirmed that yes, cheese can make even an already great dish better.

Dessert is not to be skipped here. The berry bread pudding strata ($7) was soft without being soggy, with a punch of fresh, summery flavor from the berries. The chocolate cake ($8) was to die for. The light, rich chocolate cake, topped with a bittersweet chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream, made by the folks at Woodside Creamery was just what I expected.

Delicious.

Insider tips: Take a seat at the bar

In addition to a welcoming dining room, there's also a small bar and lounge area at Capers & Lemons. The appetizers and the wine and beer list are worth an entire evening with an old friend or a new date.

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