| Restaurant
Guide
Just like mama made
it
La Capannina
does it the old way, says Stefan Chomka
It’s easy to
do the A-Z (Al Duomo-Zizzi) of Italian restaurants in Brighton
without experiencing too much of a change of scenery. While
the city has a great selection of pizzerias, their rush
to keep up with modernity has made them look like they have
all come from the same pastry cutter. They have done to
eating out what Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and a forest’s
worth of MDF has done to staying in. And that’s not
a compliment, Laurence.
La Capannina, however, is a different story. Amid the rush
of restaurants that have in vain reinvented themselves –
each like Dorian Gray afraid to grow old and creaking –
La Capannina has aged with grace in the 20 years it has
been open.
The dining room is notable not for what it has, but for
the absence of anything too de riguer. That’s not
to say the décor is understated, more sotto voce.
With wooden furnishings that haven’t been lifted from
the local Habitat and various creepers and other plants
scattered unobtrusively around the restaurant, it is as
subtle as the ‘g’ in gnocchi. The smell of garlic
and the sound of garrulous waiters speaking in an over-familiar
patter that only Italian waiters can, make this a true trattoria.
That, and the food. And there’s a lot of it. To start,
I had the Bresaola – finely sliced smoked beef with
olive oil, parmesan shavings and rocket. Quite expensive
at £7.50, but it was easily enough for two. Italians
do beef carpaccio well, and this was no exception. My partner’s
Lonza al funghetto – thin slices of smoked pork topped
with a tomato sauce with mushrooms and garlic, again at
£7.50 – was the same size and equally good.
For main, I opted for strozzapretti pasta with onions, chicken,
peppers and garlic with a tomato, saffron and cream sauce
(£7.95). This was piquant and creamy, although with
maybe a touch too much saffron. My partner went for a Pizza
Romana (£7.95) topped with mushrooms, pepperoni, boiled
egg and garlic, and cooked in a traditional wood-burning
oven. This was a masterpiece, and unlike so many pizzas
cooked by the time-old cooking method but which somehow
fail on taste, the base was neither too crispy nor too floppy,
and was full of flavour. One of the best pizzas Brighton
has to offer.
Neither of us managed to finish the large portions, and
I half expected the chef’s mother to come out and
berate us for such an affront.
All was accompanied by a nice bottle of rosé (£12.95)
and finished off in truly un-Italian style with a delicious
piece of chocolate fudge cake, although Italian stalwarts
such as Tiramisu are also on the menu.
You may need to look a bit harder for La Capannina than
other Italian restaurants, but it’s worth the effort.
Essential Info
Atmopshere: Busy and homely
Drinks: Good selection of wines and spirits
Food: Traditional Italian
Opening hours: 12-2.30pm, 6-11pm daily
La Capannina,
15 Madeira Place, Brighton
Tel: 01273 680839
copyright The Insight 2004
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